Patent ID: 9656273
Date: 2017-05-23
CPC Classifications: B03D

Claim:
1. Apparatus for contacting bubbles and particles in a flotation separation system, said apparatus comprising: a contactor arranged to receive under pressure a supply of feed slurry incorporating particles suspended in a liquid and a supply of gas, the contactor being arranged to mix the slurry with the gas forming a gas-liquid bubbly two-phase mixture; an outlet from the contactor configured to provide a restriction to the flow of mixture therethrough and maintain the mixture within the contactor under pressure, the outlet further being configured to induce a supersonic shockwave within the mixture passing therethrough, and configured such that when slurry and gas are fed into the contactor at feed rates and pressures determined to form said gas-liquid bubbly two-phase mixture and force the mixture through the outlet at a rate that induces said supersonic shockwave within the mixture reducing the size of the bubbles within the mixture and bringing those bubbles into intimate contact with particles in the mixture; and a separation cell including a mixture-directing device, the mixture-directing device arranged to receive mixture from the outlet and to control the release of that mixture into the separation cell, wherein the mixture impinges against adjacent surfaces of the mixture directing device to create a high shear environment for the mixture before allowing bubbles with attached particles to rise to the surface of liquid within the cell.