Simultaneous monitoring of flow patterns, and bubble, and plastics micro-particle characteristics in Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF)

Bert Swart; Y. M.John Chew; Jannis Wenk

doi:10.1016/j.cherd.2023.07.027

Simultaneous monitoring of flow patterns, and bubble, and plastics micro-particle characteristics in Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF)

Bert Swart, Y. M.John Chew, Jannis Wenk

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is an important water treatment process for removing suspended solids. Understanding the characteristic size and spatial distribution of both bubbles and suspended solids, including their hydrodynamics, within flotation tanks is key to optimising flotation performance. In this study, a continuously operating lab scale DAF tank was constructed to simultaneously monitor size distributions and motions of microbubbles (Ø = 67–86 ± 13–19 µm) and spherical polyethylene microplastic particles (Ø = 69.8 ± 5.3 µm) in unbuffered water at circumneutral pH without salt addition and with 0.5 g L⁻¹ sodium chloride (NaCl) added. Microplastic particles were used for the first time in such a setup. Particle tracking showed different flow regimes in the separation zone, with short-circuiting flow paths varying at different flow rates. Within the range of flowrates employed, the bubble bed that formed was not prominent enough to promote stratified flow. The addition of NaCl greatly reduced microplastic particle counts within the separation zone during flotation. This new multi-factorial approach provides critical insights into the variations in DAF performance.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	148-158
Number of pages	11
Journal	Chemical Engineering Research and Design
Volume	197
Early online date	20 Jul 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2023.07.027
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
B.S was supported by a scholarship of the Water Informatics, Science and Engineering (WISE) Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT), funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council , Grant No. EP/L016214/1 .

Appendix A. Supporting information:
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in the online version at doi:10.1016/j.cherd.2023.07.027.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)

Keywords

Bubble size distribution
Dissolved air flotation
Image processing
Microbubbles
Rise velocity
Surfactants

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
General Chemical Engineering

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10.1016/j.cherd.2023.07.027Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Simultaneous monitoring of flow patterns, and bubble, and plastics micro-particle characteristics in Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF)",

abstract = "Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is an important water treatment process for removing suspended solids. Understanding the characteristic size and spatial distribution of both bubbles and suspended solids, including their hydrodynamics, within flotation tanks is key to optimising flotation performance. In this study, a continuously operating lab scale DAF tank was constructed to simultaneously monitor size distributions and motions of microbubbles ({\O} = 67–86 ± 13–19 µm) and spherical polyethylene microplastic particles ({\O} = 69.8 ± 5.3 µm) in unbuffered water at circumneutral pH without salt addition and with 0.5 g L−1 sodium chloride (NaCl) added. Microplastic particles were used for the first time in such a setup. Particle tracking showed different flow regimes in the separation zone, with short-circuiting flow paths varying at different flow rates. Within the range of flowrates employed, the bubble bed that formed was not prominent enough to promote stratified flow. The addition of NaCl greatly reduced microplastic particle counts within the separation zone during flotation. This new multi-factorial approach provides critical insights into the variations in DAF performance.",

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N2 - Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is an important water treatment process for removing suspended solids. Understanding the characteristic size and spatial distribution of both bubbles and suspended solids, including their hydrodynamics, within flotation tanks is key to optimising flotation performance. In this study, a continuously operating lab scale DAF tank was constructed to simultaneously monitor size distributions and motions of microbubbles (Ø = 67–86 ± 13–19 µm) and spherical polyethylene microplastic particles (Ø = 69.8 ± 5.3 µm) in unbuffered water at circumneutral pH without salt addition and with 0.5 g L−1 sodium chloride (NaCl) added. Microplastic particles were used for the first time in such a setup. Particle tracking showed different flow regimes in the separation zone, with short-circuiting flow paths varying at different flow rates. Within the range of flowrates employed, the bubble bed that formed was not prominent enough to promote stratified flow. The addition of NaCl greatly reduced microplastic particle counts within the separation zone during flotation. This new multi-factorial approach provides critical insights into the variations in DAF performance.

AB - Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is an important water treatment process for removing suspended solids. Understanding the characteristic size and spatial distribution of both bubbles and suspended solids, including their hydrodynamics, within flotation tanks is key to optimising flotation performance. In this study, a continuously operating lab scale DAF tank was constructed to simultaneously monitor size distributions and motions of microbubbles (Ø = 67–86 ± 13–19 µm) and spherical polyethylene microplastic particles (Ø = 69.8 ± 5.3 µm) in unbuffered water at circumneutral pH without salt addition and with 0.5 g L−1 sodium chloride (NaCl) added. Microplastic particles were used for the first time in such a setup. Particle tracking showed different flow regimes in the separation zone, with short-circuiting flow paths varying at different flow rates. Within the range of flowrates employed, the bubble bed that formed was not prominent enough to promote stratified flow. The addition of NaCl greatly reduced microplastic particle counts within the separation zone during flotation. This new multi-factorial approach provides critical insights into the variations in DAF performance.

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Simultaneous monitoring of flow patterns, and bubble, and plastics micro-particle characteristics in Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF)

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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