Review of energy-consumption measuring techniques for the flotation process

ABSTRACT

Energy is of great theoretical and practical importance in flotation. Some progress has been achieved in recent years. However, the study of energy consumed in the flotation process is still not fully developed. In this review, we analyse the energy generation, energy detection, and influence of the energy level on the flotation effect, which remains a popular research category in flotation energy research. A theoretical model of flotation energy transmission and transformation is proposed. The techniques for measuring energy consumption in the flotation process are systematically summarized. The flow-field simulation method is confined to two-phase flows and is not fully suitable for three-phase flows. The motor power measurement method and dissipative structure theory analysis method are used to analyse the flotation process on the macroscopic level, while the Extended Derjaguin-landau-Verwey-Overbeek(EDLVO) theory and the flow-field test method can be used to study the microprocesses of flotation. This review provides more insight into the future research of flotation energy, and optimizes the flotation process and equipment. It is necessary to further develop flotation energy measurement technology, especially for microprocesses, in order to reveal the turbulent energy transfer efficiency in the flotation process.

KEYWORDS:

• Energy consumption
• flotation
• flow field
• fluid simulation
• measure

List of Symbols and Notations

DAF Dissolved Air Flotation

ECT Electrical Capacitance Tomography

EIT Electrical Impedance Tomography

ERT Electrical Resistance Tomography

ε Turbulent Dissipation Rate

k Kinetic Energy

LDA Laser Doppler Anemometry

LDV Laser Doppler Velocimetry

MIT Magnetic Induction Tomography

PIV Particle Image Velocimetry

PDA Particle Dynamics Analyzer

PET Positron Emission Tomography

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the “National Natural Science Foundation of China” (Grant No. 51604097); “China Postdoctoral Science Foundation” (Grant No. 2016M602240); “Henan Postdoctoral Science Foundation” (Grant No. 172524); “Foundation for University Key Teacher by Henan Polytechnic University” (Grant No. 2017XQG-12); “Henan Key Laboratory of Coal Green Transformation” and “Doctoral Foundation of Henan Polytechnic University” (Grant No. B2015-13).