Abstract
To examine the usage of biosurfactants as potential alternatives to chemosynthetic surfactants in controlling bubble behavior in the flotation process, a high-speed photographic method was employed to measure the motion of single bubbles and the size distribution of bubbles in the presence of biosurfactants in a laboratory scale flotation column. Deionized water, rhamnolipid, tea saponin and t-C8phenolethoxylateEO9 were used for making various surfactant solutions. Bubble trajectory, dimensions, velocity and size distribution were then determined from the recorded frames using the image analysis software. The results show that similar to chemosynthetic surfactants, the addition of biosurfactants has significant effects on bubble motion and size distribution. The addition of a small amount of tea saponin can significantly dampen bubble deformation, slow down terminal velocity, stabilize bubble trajectory, reduce bubble size and increase the specific surface area of bubbles due to the Marangoni effect. In addition, the biosurfactant effect on bubble behavior has been also found to depend on their type and concentration. The effect of tea saponin, fairly close to C8phenolethoxylateEO9, is stronger than rhamnolipid. The findings in the present study suggest that such biosurfactant as tea saponin may be good substitutes of chemosynthetic surfactants to control bubble behavior in flotation operation.
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Abbreviations
- A :
-
Cross-sectional area of the flotation column (m2)
- A r :
-
Aspect ratio of a bubble
- d 32 :
-
Sauter mean diameter (mm)
- d ave :
-
Average bubble diameter (mm)
- d eq :
-
Equivalent diameter of a bubble (mm)
- d h :
-
Maximum diameter of a bubble (mm)
- d v :
-
Minimum diameter of a bubble (mm)
- n :
-
Number of bubbles
- N s :
-
Surface area flux of bubbles
- Q in :
-
Gas flow rate (ml/min)
- S :
-
Surface area of a bubble (m2)
- S b :
-
Specific surface area of bubbles (m2/m3)
- t :
-
Time (s)
- V :
-
Volume of a bubble (m3)
- V T :
-
Terminal velocity (m/s)
- X :
-
Position coordinate of the gravity center of a bubble in the x direction
- Z :
-
Position coordinate of the gravity center of a bubble coordinate in the z direction
- 0:
-
Initial
- i :
-
The moment; the bubble
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the National Natural Science Foundation of China (20706007), the State Key Lab of Urban Water Resource and Environment (QA200806), the State Key Lab of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems (GZKF-201026) and the Special Fund for Basic Scientific Research of Central Colleges (CHD2009JC011). The authors would also like to express our gratitude to Dr. Douglas Hayes for his valuable comments.
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Li, Y., Yang, L., Zhu, T. et al. Biosurfactants as Alternatives to Chemosynthetic Surfactants in Controlling Bubble Behavior in the Flotation Process. J Surfact Deterg 16, 409–419 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-012-1401-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-012-1401-9