Flotation Cells
Posted on July 27, 2021 Physical Modeling
Flotation cells take advantage of buoyancy forces to separate materials of interest in a wide range of industries. One common application is in #mineralprocessing where differences in hydrophobicity and bubble attachment allow valuable #minerals to be separated from the gangue (waste material) in the ore. Other applications include #wastewatertreatment, #bitumen recovery from #oilsands, and #recycling applications. Optimization of #flotation processes requires understanding of surfactants, mixing and distribution of feed into a flotation vessel, generation and distribution of the correct size of gas bubbles, collection of floating froth material at the overflow, and removal of #tailings streams at the underflow.
Coanda has conducted projects for a range of flotation processes using physical laboratory models of flotation cells complemented with computational techniques (#CFD). We have tested several innovative custom designs developed to address specific client needs and also tested third-party devices designed to enhanced bubble generation.