Microflotation
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Microflotation is a further development of standard dissolved air flotation (DAF).[1] Microflotation is a water treatment technology operating with microbubbles of 10–80 μm in size instead of 80-300 μm like conventional DAF units.
The general operating method of microflotation is similar to standard recycled stream DAF units. The advancements of microflotation are lower pressure operation, smaller footprints and less energy consumption.[2]
The method of Microflotation is comparable to recycled stream DAF. A portion of the clarified effluent water leaving the Microflotation tank is pumped into a small pressure vessel into which compressed air is also introduced. This results in saturating the pressurized effluent water with air. The air-saturated water stream is recycled to the front of the Microflotation cell and flows through a pressure release valve just as it enters the front of the float tank, which results in the air being released in the form of tiny bubbles. Bubbles form at nucleation sites on the surface of the suspended particles, adhering to the particles. As more bubbles form, the lift from the bubbles eventually overcomes the force of gravity. This causes the suspended matter to float to the surface where it forms a froth layer which is then removed by a skimmer. The froth-free water exits the float tank as the clarified effluent from the Microflotation unit. A particular circular DAF system is called "Zero speed", allowing quite water status then highest performances; a typical example is an Easyfloat 2K DAF system.[citation needed]
