Froth Production in Potable Water without Chemicals

Abstract. Froth flotation is a well-known solid-liquid separation technique. Hydrophobicity is the main driving force for such processes. Hydrophobic solids attach to air bubbles and rise up while hydrophilic or less hydrophobic species settle down. Froth can be produced with chemical frothers such as alcohols and polyglycols. However, the use of chemicals limits the use of this separation method in applications such as drinking water, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Therefore, developing a technique that produces froth without adding any chemicals would be useful to such industries.

This work demonstrates that with suitable operating parameters a 27 cm froth height can be obtained in a 20 cm diameter column by using an air flow rate of 130 l/min.