Skip to main content
Log in

Biosurfactants as Alternatives to Chemosynthetic Surfactants in Controlling Bubble Behavior in the Flotation Process

Journal of Surfactants and Detergents

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

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

References

  1. Nesset JE, Hernandez-Aguilar JR, Acuna CA, Gomez CO, Finch JA (2006) Some gas dispersion characteristics of mechanical flotation machines. Miner Eng 19:807–815

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Acuna CA (2007) Measurement techniques to characterize bubble motion in swarms. PhD Thesis. Department of Mining, Metals and Materials Engineering, McGill University

  3. Malysa K, Krasoska M, Krzan M (2005) Influence of surface active substances on bubble motion and collision with various interfaces. Adv Colloid Interface Sci 205:114–115

    Google Scholar 

  4. Finch JA, Nesset JE, Acuna C (2008) Role of frother on bubble production and behavior in flotation. Miner Eng 21:949–957

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Ruzicka MC, Vecer MM, Orvalho S, Drahos J (2008) Effect of surfactant on homogeneous regime stability in bubble column. Chem Eng Sci 63:951–967

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Li YP, Zhu TT, Liu YY, Tian Y, Wang HR (2012) Effects of surfactant on bubble hydrodynamic behavior under flotation-related conditions in wastewater. Water Sci Technol 65:1060–1066

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Painmanakul P, Sastaravet P, Lersjintanakarn S, Khaodhiar S (2010) Effect of bubble hydrodynamic and chemical dosage on treatment of oily wastewater by induced air flotation (IAF) process. Chem Eng Res Des 88:692–702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Lu K, Zhang XL, Zhao YL, Wu ZL (2010) Removal of color from textile wastewater by foam separation. J Hazard Mater 182:928–932

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Wiley PE, Brenneman KJ, Jacobson AE (2009) Improved algal harvesting using suspended air flotation. Water Environ Res 81:702–708

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Alves SS, Orvalho SP, Vasconcelos JMT (2005) Effect of bubble contamination on rise velocity and mass transfer. Chem Eng Sci 60:1–9

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Rosso D, Huo DL, Stenstrom MK (2006) Effects of interfacial surfactant contamination on bubble gas transfer. Chem Eng Sci 61:5500–5514

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Hebrard G, Zeng J, Loubiere K (2009) Effect of surfactants on liquid side mass transfer coefficients: a new insight. Chem Eng J 148:132–138

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Gomez-Diaz D, Navaza JM, Sanjurjo B (2009) Mass-transfer enhancement or reduction by surfactant presence at a gas-liquid interface. Ind Eng Chem Res 48:2671–2677

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Azgomi F, Gomez CO, Finch JA (2007) Correspondence of gas holdup and bubble size in presence of different frothers. Int J Mine Process 83:1–11

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Bongolo B (1999) Biosurfactants as emulsifying agents for hydrocarbons. Colloids Surf A 152:41–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Mulligan CN (2009) Recent advances in the environmental applications of biosurfactants. Curr Opin Colloid Interface Sci 14:372–378

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Banat IM, Franzetti A, Gandolfi I, Bestetti G, Martinotti MG, Fracchia ML, Smyth TJ, Marchant R (2010) Microbial biosurfactants production, applications and future potential. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 87:427

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Maier RM, Soberón-Chávez G (2000) Pseudomonas aeruginosa rhamnolipids: biosynthesis and potential applications. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 54:625–633

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Mulligan CN, Yong RN, Gibbs BF (2001) Heavy metal removal from sediments by biosurfactants. J Hazard Mater 85:111–125

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Wang Q, Fang X, Bai B, Liang X, Shuler PJ, Goddard WA, Tang Y (2007) Engineering bacteria for production of rhamnolipid as an agent for enhanced oil recovery. Biotechnol Bioeng 98:842–853

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Wen J, Stacey SP, McLaughlin MJ, Kirby JK (2009) Biodegradation of Rhamnolipid, EDTA and citric acid in cadmium and zinc contaminated soils. Soil Biol Biochem 41:2214–2221

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Xu Q, Liu Z, Nakajima M, Ichikawa S, Nakamura N, Roy P, Okadome H, Shiina T (2010) Characterization of a soybean oil-based biosurfactant and evaluation of its ability to form microbubbles. Bioresour Technol 101:3711–3717

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Meng YT, Yuan XZ, Zeng GM (2005) Removal of cadmium from wastewater with plant-derived biosurfactant tea saponin by ion flotation. J Environ Sci 25:1029–1033 (in Chinese)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Liu YY, Li YP, Zhu TT (2011) Study on modulating shape and velocity of meso-scale bubble using surfactants. J Xi’an Jiaotong Univ 45:93–97 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Takagi S, Ogasawara T, Matsumoto Y (2008) The effect of surfactant on the multiscale structure of bubbly flows. Phil Trans R Soc A 366:2117–2129

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Kracht W, Finch JA (2010) Effect of frother on initial bubble shape and velocity. Int J Mine Process 94:115–120

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Fan LS, Tsuchiya K (1990) Bubble wake dynamics in liquids and liquid-solid suspensions. Butterworth-Heinemann, UK

    Google Scholar 

  28. Watcharasing S, Kongkowit W, Chavadej S (2009) Motor oil removal from water by continuous froth flotation using extended surfactant: effects of air bubble parameters and surfactant concentration. Sep Purif Technol 70:179–189

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Grace JR (1973) Shapes and velocities of bubbles rising in infinite liquids. Trans Inst Chem Eng 51:116–120

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Tomiyama A, Celata GP, Hosokawa S, Yoshida S (2002) Terminal velocity of single bubbles in surface tension force dominant regime. Int J Multi Flow 28:1497–1519

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Krzan M, Zawala J, Malysa K (2007) Development of steady state adsorption distribution over interface of a bubble rising in solutions of n-alkanols (C5, C8) and n-alkyltrimethylammonium bromides (C8, C12, C15). Colloids Surf A 298:42–51

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

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.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yanpeng Li.

About this article

Cite this article

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

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-012-1401-9

Keywords

Navigation