Systems and processes for injecting gas-infused additives

A gas-infusion apparatus for infusing an additive with a gas to produce a gas-infused additive, the gas-infusion apparatus comprising:

• a gas-infusion chamber comprising an additive inlet, an additive outlet, and a gas inlet;
• a gas diffuser disposed within the gas-infusion chamber;
• and
• a gas source configured to supply the gas to the gas diffuser, wherein the gas source is operatively connected to the gas diffuser via a gas-supply conduit and the gas inlet;
• wherein:
• the gas-infusion apparatus is configured to be appended to a system comprising an additive source and a floatation consolidator, wherein the additive source is configured to be operatively connected to the gas-infusion chamber via the additive inlet and the floatation consolidator is configured to be operatively connected to the gas-infusion chamber via the additive outlet;
• the gas-infusion apparatus is configured such that the additive has a sequential flow path from the additive source, through the gas-infusion chamber, and into the floatation consolidator, wherein the additive is infused with the gas prior to contacting a suspension or a liquid derived from the suspension;
• and
• the gas diffuser is configured to diffuse the gas supplied thereto by producing microbubbles of the gas.

A process for separating solids or oils from a liquid within a suspension, the process comprising:

• dissolving microbubbles of a gas in an additive to produce a gas-infused additive;
• injecting the gas-infused additive into the suspension;
• mixing the gas-infused additive with the suspension;
• and
• separating the solids or oils from the liquid via a method selected from the group consisting of dissolved air floatation, induced gas floatation, and suspended air floatation, wherein the microbubbles of the gas are dissolved in the additive prior to the additive contacting the suspension or a liquid derived from the suspension.