Flotation machine HydroFloat®

The HydroFloat is a fluidized-bed coarse particle flotation machine that overcomes buoyancy and froth recovery restrictions through up-current water velocity and plug flow conditions. HydroFloat technology is designed and built to last, with components and materials selected for maximum availability and operating life. The HydroFloat requires very little maintenance (even treating very coarse material), since its design does not include any rotating or moving parts. The main feature of the HydroFloat coarse particle flotation machine is a circular vessel comprised of an upper freeboard region, a central separation region and a lower dewatering cone. Classified and conditioned feed slurry is introduced to a feedwell within the upper freeboard region and settles against a rising mixture of water and fine air bubbles introduced and dispersed through a proprietary elutriation manifold with an external aeration system. Proprietary feedwell and elutriation manifold designs provide uniform distribution of feed, fluidization water, and air across the HydroFloat cross-sectional area, maximizing throughput and process efficiency. The upward flow of water and air creates a fluidized bed (or teeter bed) of suspended particles in the separation region with high interstitial liquid velocities that resist the penetration of slow settling particles. As air bubbles rise through the fluidized bed and into the freeboard region, they selectively attach to hydrophobic particle surfaces and produce bubble-particle agglomerates with a reduced effective density and increased buoyancy. As a result, particles with minimal hydrophobic surface exposure are very effectively recovered.