Determination of factors effecting the properties of water-air microdispersion

The article presents the results of laboratory studies on the effect of the liquid-gas ratio and the foaming agent type on the average water-air micro dispersion size obtained from the foaming agent solution. The size of microbubbles significantly effects the efficiency of flotation and depends on the type and concentration of foaming agent used for their production. A generator was used to obtain water-air micro dispersion. The works were performed to work out the water-air micro dispersion parameters of at different liquid-gas ratio and different performance of the generator. The following foaming agents were used as objects of research: sodium butyl aero flot (BTF), flotanol C-7, butyl triethylenetetramine (B-TETA) at a concentration of 0.5 g/dm3. It has been established, that the optimal phase liquid-gas ratio was 1:1, the optimal capacity of the generator was 6-7.2 dm3/h with an average particle size of air-water micro dispersion- 33-41 mm for BTF solution, 103-107 mm for C-7 solution, 90-93 mm for B-TETA solution. The type of foaming agent used in flotation effects the size and stability of microbubbles. It is established that the flotation agents can be arranged in the following line with respect to their ability to create micro dispersion: IIBK→Senfroth 580→B-TETA→OPSB→Flotanol C-7→T-92→BTF. The best results are shown by BTF that creates micro dispersion of 43-58 μm (t 20-40 °С) and stability of 80 sec with concentration of 0.5 g/dm3.