Gas entrainment flotation reactor with arrangements for separating solids from liquids

A gas entrainment/floatation reactor comprising:

• at least one feed pipe conveying a liquid to be purified and supplied with air or air-ozone mixture which is admixed as the finest of bubbles with the liquid;
• an inlet chamber extending along an axis and in flow communication with the feed pipe which opens tangentially into the chamber;
• a riser tube coaxial with and mounted on and being in flow communication with the chamber for guiding a foam column;
• a foam pipe coaxial with the chamber and spaced radially outwardly from the riser tube and formed with lower and upper ends, the riser tube terminating between the ends, so that the foam column overflows into a space between the tube and pipe;
• foam collecting means formed in the foam pipe on the upper end thereof for collecting the bubbles overloaded with organic material rising in the space toward the upper end of the foam pipe;
• and
• a tubular casing coaxial with and spaced radially outwardly from the foam pipe to form another space therebetween and being in flow communication with the lower end of the foam pipe to guide axially upwardly the liquid evacuated from the foam pipe, the casing having at least one liquid outlet spaced upwardly axially from the lower end of the pipe and draining the liquid from the other space, the chamber being formed with a cylindrical base having the feed pipe tangentially connected there to and a frustoconical cap on the base having a cone wall extending at an angle with respect to the base so that the liquid entering the base is guided along the cone wall in a rotary raising flow to a region of formation of the foam column in the raiser tube encompassing an imaginary apex of the wall of the cap.