Air-sparged hydrocyclones

In 1981, a novel flotation device known as the air-sparged hydrocyclone, shown in Figure 3, was developed (16). In this equipment, a thin film and swid flotation is accompHshed in a centrifugal field, where air sparges through a porous wall. Because of the enhanced hydrodynamic condition, separation of fine hydrophobic particles can be readily accompHshed. Also, retention times can be reduced to a matter of seconds. Thus, this device provides up to 200 times the throughput of conventional flotation cells at similar yields and product quaHties. 

Fig. 3. Air-sparged hydrocyclone, where A represents the tangential feed that estabHshes swid flow B, the area of small bubbles formed by high shear at the porous wall and C, the outlet for the (D) hydrophilic particles rejected by the swid flow. The (B) hydrophobic particles are in the axial froth flow.

FIG. 19-79 Variations in the basic column design a) packed column, (h) Jameson cell, and (c) air-sparged hydrocyclone. 

T0012 Advanced Processing Technologies, Inc., Air-Sparged Hydrocyclone T0020 Aeration Basins—General... 

Another novel concept is the Air-Sparged Hydrocyclone developed at the University of Utah. In this device, the slurry fed tangentially through the cyclone header into the porous cylinder to develop a swirl flow pattern intersects with air sparged through the jacketed porous cylinder. The froth product is discharged through the overflow stream. 

Liu, S., Zhao, X., Dong, X., Miao, B., and Du, W. 2005. Treatment of Produced Water From Polymer Flooding Process Using a New Type of Air Sparged Hydrocyclone. Paper SPE 95343 presented at the SPE Asia Pacific Health, Safety and Environment Conference and Exhibition, Kuala Lumpur, 19-21 September. DPI 10.2118/95343-MS. 

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