The world would be an inhabitable place without waste management. Since any industrial process ends up producing some waste, it is very crucial to manage it. Dissolved air floatation equipment treats wastewater by getting rid of any suspended solids. As the name suggests, the process involves dissolving air in the wastewater under some pressure. The air is then released into a floatation tank, to form bubbles that stick on the suspended matter. The air makes the suspended matter to float, making it easy to skim the matter away.
How do Dissolved Air Floatation Systems Work?
DAFs can be used in a wide range of industries. Some of the industries that heavily utilize dissolve air floatation systems include oil refineries, food and beverage industries, and paper mills. Some of the solids that can be removed by DAFs include fats, oil, and grease, total suspending solids as well as any other pollutants. After the solid removal, the water is suitable for re-use. In case the industry does not need to re-use the water, it is safe to be released to a water treatment system.
How dissolved air flotation equipment work is no rocket science. The process begins when the wastewater is fed into the dissolving system. The DAF system has whitewater, which is saturated with dissolved air. The wastewater then mixes with the whitewater. In the process, bubbles attach to solid matter, making the matter buoyant enough to float in the daf wastewater. Here is an overview of the system.
Plate Pack
Plate pack systems have tall tanks with slightly inclined plate packs. Water is fed into the plate packs in a cross-flow manner. The essence of the cross-flow fashion is to reduce the distance to be covered by the solids before they are entirely separated. Once they come into contact with an inclined plate, lighter solids move upwards while the heavier ones settle at the bottom.
Open Tank
This is an efficient solid removal process, especially for wastewater with large amounts of solids. Unlike the plate pack, open tank systems are usually rectangular. The measurements of the tank depend on free separation area requirements. It is important to note that this type of DAF requires a lot of free area to allow efficient separation.
Your industrial water treatment activities should dictate the type of dissolved air flotation equipment you pick. For instance, a plate pack DAF is ideal low solids loading rates while the open tank works better with high slid loading rates. However, an open tank unit can work anywhere, while a plate pack cannot. The only challenge when it comes to the open tank method is the surface area, as well as its cost.
Dissolved Air Floatation Equipment
Floatation Tank
It is where the water separates from the solids. The water flows through the floatation tank at a relatively slow speed to allow heavy solids to settle and the light solids to stay afloat. There are no set standard dimensions for a floatation tank. The sizes can vary depending on the specific needs.
Sludge Dewatering Grid
This is a rectangular set of angular plates. These plates hold the sludge in place while it rises towards the surface. The sludge dewatering grid plays a vital role in controlling the sludge thickness. For the slurry to be skimmed, it must achieve some level of thickness.
Skimmers
Skimmers can be co-current or counter-current. The co-current skimmers push the sludge in the direction of the wastewater floor while the counter-current skimmer pushes the sludge against the dissolved air flotation equipment wastewater flow. The counter-current skimmer stands out in terms of efficiency since it reduces the skimming distance
Flocculators
Flocculators are designed purposely for mixing. They also provide retention time to coagulate solids, hence improving solid removal.
Angled Air Dissolving Tube
Whitewater is generated in this tube. Since it is angled, water and air have a more significant interface; hence, saturation takes place almost immediately. The angled air dissolving tube is more cost-effective.
Recycling Pump
Recycling pumps are at the heart of any water treatment system. Most of the maintenance expenses go to it. Choose a recycling pump that meets your needs.
Every industry must invest in efficient dissolved air flotation equipment since they can end up spending a lot of money on water treatment products.