PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR ADSORPTIVE BUBBLE SEPARATION USING A DENSE FOAM.

摘要

A method of concentrating particles in a liquid-particle dispersion feed by adsorptive bubble separation by intimately contacting a gas with a pressurized stream of liquid in a chamber to form an aerated dispersion that retains at least some of the kinetic energy from the pressurized stream, and removing at least some of the kinetic energy from the aerated dispersion to form a dense foam. A liquid-particle dispersion feed is then injected into the dense foam to form a gas- liquid-particle dispersion. The gas-liquid-particle dispersion is injected into a flotation chamber at a point below a surface of a liquid contained therein, where the gas-liquid-particle dispersion forms bubbles of a gas-particle agglomerate, and the bubbles are released from the feed liquid depleted in hydrophobic particles and rise to the surface to form a floating froth enriched in particles. Also described is a device that includes a plurality of chambers for aeration and mixing, feed injection, and a duct that is positioned below the liquid-foam line of a flotation chamber, so that the gas-liquid-particle dispersion is released within the chamber, and rises to the surface as a floating froth enriched in particles.