Abstract

BELTRAN ORTIZ, Cinda  and  JACINTO EULATE, Napoleón. Application of microbubbles in the flotation of sludge from mine water treatment. Part II: Flotation. Rev. Met. UTO [online]. 2012, n.32, pp. 20-27. ISSN 2078-5593.

The results of this research show how an efficient application of microbubbles of size <100 |im, for effective removal by flotation of sludge from chemical treatment of AMD-EMH. The application of this technique contains the theoretical development, design, sizing and construction of the laboratory equipment; further, the instrumentation for data acquisition. The flotation of the flocculated sluge (floc size ~1,400 |am) is carried out applying microbubbles of size <50 |am, which are generated by air dissolution in water at saturation pressure of 4 bar and released through a plate orifice of 1 mm diameter. The sludge of flotation has a concentration >7% solids and a removal efficiency >98%, for a flotation time of 150 s. The solids removal velocity with a hydraulic charge of 18 m³/m²h, is 5 fold greater than the sedimentation velocity. The sludge has a pH of 9, is stable and can be disposed in the environment safely. The treated water has a pH <9, contains <30 mg/L of suspended solids and is apt for industrial use or discharged to the environment

Keywords : Microbubbles; Flotation; Mine acid drainage.