Flotation separation device and method
AssigneeEriez Manufacturing Co.
InventorsMichael J. Mankosa, Jaisen Kohmuench, Eric S. Yan, Gerald H. Luttrell
Life of this patent
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Abstract
What is claimed is a flotation separation system for partitioning a slurry. The slurry includes a hydrophobic species that can adhere to gas bubbles that form within the slurry. The flotation separation system includes a flotation separation cell. The flotation separation cell has a sparger unit and a separation tank. The separation tank is constructed to allow the bubble dispersion to form a froth at the top of the slurry contained in the separation tank. The sparger unit includes a slurry inlet, a slurry outlet, a sparging mechanism, a high shear element, and a gas inlet.
Claims47
A flotation separation system for partitioning a slurry, the slurry including a hydrophobic species that can adhere to gas bubbles formed in the slurry, said flotation separation system comprises:
- a flotation separation cell that comprises a sparger unit and a separation tank;
- said sparger unit comprises:
- a slurry inlet located at a first portion of a sparging mechanism, said slurry inlet for receiving a slurry;
- a gas inlet located at said first portion of said sparging mechanism, said gas inlet for introducing a gas into the slurry, the gas having enough pressure to form gas bubbles in the slurry;
- said sparging mechanism for dispersing the gas bubbles within the slurry, the effective open area in said sparging mechanism is substantially the same as the effective open area in said sparger unit both upstream and downstream from said sparging mechanism, said sparging mechanism is constructed such that the slurry flows through said sparging mechanism in a substantially unrestricted manner, the pressure across said sparging mechanism during the operation of said flotation separation system is about 10 psig or less;
- a high shear element located within said sparging mechanism between said first portion and a second portion of said sparging mechanism, said high shear element for sparging the gas bubbles so as to form a bubble dispersion that causes adhesion of the hydrophobic species to the gas bubbles within said sparger unit;
- wherein said high shear element comprises a rotating high shear element;
- and
- a slurry outlet located at said second portion of said sparging mechanism, said slurry outlet for discharging the slurry and the bubble dispersion into said separation tank;
- and
- said separation tank constructed to allow the bubble dispersion to form a froth at the top of the slurry contained in said separation tank.
A sparger unit for forming bubbles in a slurry in a flotation separation system the slurry including a hydrophobic species that can adhere to gas bubbles formed in the slurry, said sparger unit comprises:
- a slurry inlet located at a first portion of a sparging mechanism, said slurry inlet for receiving a slurry;
- a gas inlet located at said first portion of said sparging mechanism, said gas inlet for receiving a gas, the gas having at least enough pressure to allow gas bubbles to form in the slurry;
- said sparging mechanism for dispersing the gas bubbles within the slurry, the effective open area in said sparging mechanism is substantially the same as the effective open area in said sparger unit both upstream and downstream from said sparging mechanism, said sparging mechanism is constructed such that the slurry flows through the effective open area in said sparging mechanism in a substantially unrestricted manner, the pressure across said sparging mechanism during the operation of said sparger unit is about 10 psig or less;
- a high shear element located within said sparging mechanism between said first portion and a second portion of said sparging mechanism, said high shear element for sparging the gas bubbles so as to form a bubble dispersion that causes adhesion of the hydrophobic species to the gas bubbles within said sparger unit;
- wherein said high shear element comprises a rotating high shear element;
- and
- a slurry outlet located at said second portion of said sparging mechanism, said slurry outlet for discharging the slurry and the bubble dispersion from said sparger unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.