WO2009130299A1

WO2009130299A1 - Hydrocyclone fluid treatment process

Info

Publication number: WO2009130299A1
Application number: PCT/EP2009/054944
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gilles Hebrard; Christelle Guigui; Louis Lopez; Philippe Breant; Hervé Suty
Original assignee: Anjou Recherche; Institut National Des Sciences Appliquees De Toulouse
Priority date: 2008-04-25
Filing date: 2009-04-24
Publication date: 2009-10-29
Also published as: FR2930539A1

Abstract

Process for treating an aqueous fluid with a view to separating therefrom suspended matter and/or colloidal matter and/or dissolved organic or mineral matter and/or a fatty phase by flotation, characterized in that it consists in conveying said aqueous fluid into a reactor that forms a hydrocyclone in the presence of microbubbles of air and of at least one reactant chosen from the group composed of organic or mineral coagulants, organic or mineral flocculants, surfactants, reactants used for adjusting the pH, precipitation initiators.

Description

Hydrocyclone fluid treatment process

The invention relates to the field of the treatment of aqueous fluids containing suspended particles which may be in the form of suspended solids, colloidal materials and / or a fatty phase or containing organic or inorganic matter that is desired to precipitate, to reduce the content of such materials.

The invention finds particular application in the context of water treatment for their potabilization, in the context of processes used to break emulsions and in the context of precipitation processes to precipitate one or more compounds present in an aqueous fluid.

A particularly interesting application of the present invention relates to the treatment of water for the purpose of its potabilization.

Such water treatment processes for the purpose of its potabilization typically implement four essential steps, namely: - a coagulation / flocculation step a decantation step a filtration step.

These different steps are intended to eliminate water to treat suspended solids that give raw water its turbidity. The principle of coagulation / flocculation is to agglomerate the solid and colloidal particles in the form of flocs having a density greater than that of water so as to subsequently allow their settling.

In this context, iron or aluminum salts, lime or polyelectrolytes are conventionally used as coagulants. Coagulation is caused by the addition and rapid mixing of a coagulating agent with water which causes destabilization of the colloids and solid suspended solids contained therein and initiates the aggregation of the particles thus destabilized.

Flocculation, that is to say the aggregation of these destabilized particles in the form of flocs, is obtained with gentle stirring. Flocculation, which consists of agglomeration of the destabilized particles is improved by the addition of a flocculant or flocculation adjuvant of mineral or organic origin. The flocculant is generally a polymer, of natural or organic origin, which makes it possible to improve the agglomeration process of the colloids. In a conventional manner, in the context of water treatment for the purpose of their potabilization, the coagulation / flocculation step is carried out in two stages, namely: a first step, carried out in a first reactor, at during which a coagulating agent such as an aluminum salt or an iron salt is mixed rapidly and intensively with the raw water so as to cause the destabilization of the colloids and a second step, implemented in a second reactor, in which a charged polymer is injected into the water so as to allow gentle stirring the formation of flocs. Such a conventional method of coagulation / flocculation of water therefore requires the implementation of two reactors provided with stirring means. Such installations show the double disadvantage of having a large footprint and, because they incorporate moving parts (agitators), to require regular maintenance. The costs of implementing such reactors are therefore relatively high.

Once the flocs have been formed, it is then advisable to allow them to be decanted to allow their separation from the water. This step is conventionally carried out in settling tanks, possibly equipped with lamellae, which make it possible to promote the settling of the floc and to reduce the time required for it.

The decantation stage makes it possible to separate the settled flocs, in the form of sludge, the water freed from most of its suspended solids and its colloidal materials. Such settlers, although of simple design, have the disadvantage of being bulky and further increase the influence of water purification facilities.

At the end of the decantation stage, the water is then generally filtered, for example on a sand filter. These filters can also occupy an important place.

Overall, conventional water treatment processes for their potabilization therefore have the disadvantage of occupying large volumes and therefore require large constructions and that of implementing mobile elements such as agitators requiring maintenance. making their operation costly.

The object of the present invention is to provide a method for treating aqueous fluid, in particular but not exclusively water to be treated, implementing a flotation phase separation step in a facility with a small size.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a method not involving the implementation of mobile elements such as stirrers and requiring only simple maintenance.

These various objectives are achieved by the invention which relates to a method of treating an aqueous fluid to separate suspended matter and / or colloidal material and / or dissolved organic matter or minerals and / or a fatty phase by flotation, characterized in that it comprises passing said aqueous fluid in a hydrocyclone-forming reactor in the presence of micro-air bubbles and at least one reagent chosen from the group consisting of organic coagulating agents or minerals, organic or inorganic flocculation agents, surfactants, reagents used to adjust the pH, precipitation initiators.

The invention thus relates to a hybrid process in which the addition of reagent and the flotation are carried out in a single hydrocyclone-forming reactor. Hydrocyclones are known apparatus for separating the different phases of a fluid by using the centrifugal force caused by a vortex flow of the fluid within them.

In particular, the hydrocyclones have been used as separation devices in many aqueous fluid treatment processes such as, for example, water clarification processes, liquid degassing processes, in the recycling loops of the water treatment plants. water treatment using ballast (sand or activated carbon in particular) to recycle this ballast. Hydrocyclones have the advantage of being easy to install and use. They require low maintenance in that they do not implement mobile internal elements in particular. Their structure is light and their operation reliable. The fact that they operate at low energy compared to conventional high speed centrifugal machines further enhances their interest. Finally, the hydrocyclones require little room to be implemented and can be used even with very heavy fluids, their efficiency increasing with the flow of incoming fluid.

In conventional hydrocyclones, the fluid to be treated is injected tangentially into the upper part thereof at a predetermined minimum flow rate. Thanks to the flow of the incoming fluid, an external vortex is created in the hydrocyclone, presenting a high velocity gradient, according to the internal walls of the enclosure which it delimits, and where there are significant shear forces, the external vortex driving the heavier phase towards the underflow of the hydrocyclone provided in its lower part, and an internal vortex having a lower velocity gradient causing the least heavy phase towards the overflow of the hydrocyclone provided in the upper part of that -this.

According to a preferred variant of the invention, said reagent is a coagulating agent and / or a flocculation agent for causing within said hydrocyclone the coagulation and flocculation of at least a part of the suspended matter and / or the material. colloidal and / or organic matter or dissolved minerals and / or said fatty phase around said air micro-bubbles and the flotation of the thus formed flocs and separating said flocs from the rest of the treated aqueous fluid.

Note that it has already been proposed in the prior art to carry out the step of coagulation / flocculation of a water loaded with colloidal material and suspended matter in a hydrocyclone. However, all the studies carried out on this subject have led to the conclusion that the flocs formed within the hydrocyclone broke under the effect of the high speed gradients prevailing therein and causing collisions of the flocs. Moreover, the small difference in density between the flocs and the rest of the fluid does not make it possible to improve the separation.

According to the present invention, the use of air microbubbles makes it possible to increase the density difference between the flocs and the rest of the aqueous fluid and thus to allow the flocs being formed to reach the internal vortex where no significant shear forces prevail.

According to the present invention, air microbubbles are used not only to promote the formation of flocks by increasing such a difference in density but also to cause flotation thereof.

Such microbubbles of air may be brought or formed within the hydrocyclone according to various methods known to those skilled in the art.

Preferably water under saturated air pressure will be fed into the lower part of the hydrocyclone and the passage of this fluid at the atmospheric pressure prevailing in the hydrocyclone will cause the formation of said microbubbles. In this context, the pressure used will advantageously be between 2 bar and 6 bar, and more preferably between 2.5 bar and 5 bar and the water under pressure will preferably be brought into the hydrocyclone at a flow rate corresponding to 2%. and 15% of the inlet flow rate of the fluid to be treated in said hydrocyclone. Note that it has already been proposed in US Pat. No. 4,838,434 to separate particles present in a suspension by passing said suspension in a hydrocyclone provided with air injection means generating microbubbles. However, in this technique, no reactive agent and in particular no coagulating or flocculating agent is injected into the hydrocyclone. The present invention differs from this technique in that it implements such an agent, which eliminates the colloidal materials, which proves impossible by a method of the type described in this prior art.

According to a preferred variant, the micro-air bubbles have a diameter of between 20 μm and 150 μm, and preferably between 25 μm and 100 μm. It is indeed in this range of microbubble size that the best results have been found.

The reagent used in the context of the process according to the invention could be injected into the fluid to be treated just before entering this hydrocyclone or, alternatively, directly into it. In the case of a flotation process, the floated materials will be recovered in the upper part of the hydrocyclone. Preferably, the treated aqueous fluid, that is to say the fluid freed of the separated materials by the process according to the invention, will be extracted in the upper part of the hydrocyclone, the fluid to be treated being fed into the lower part of the hydrocyclone. this one.

Advantageously, the hydrocyclone will have a cylindrical body. It has been found that the results obtained with such a hydrocyclone architecture were better than those obtained with a hydrocyclone having a frustoconical body. The process according to the invention can be implemented for the treatment of a large number of types of aqueous fluids. According to one variant, it may thus be an emulsion that one wishes to break, that is to say separate into a liquid phase and a fatty phase.

The process according to the invention may also be applied to waters containing dissolved organic or inorganic matter that one wishes to make precipitate. In this case, the reagent used will be a precipitating initiator whose nature will depend on the product to be precipitated.

According to a variant, the process comprises a step of recycling the treated fluid in said hydrocyclone. The invention as well as the various advantages that it presents will be more easily understood thanks to the following description of a non-limiting embodiment thereof, given with reference to the single figure which represents, schematically, an installation for implementing the method according to the invention. With reference to this single figure, the hydrocyclone has a cylindrical body 1 and a conical lower portion 2. The cylindrical portion 1 has in its lower zone means 3 for supplying a fluid to be treated, designed in such a way that the fluid in question enters the hydrocyclone tangentially. The hydrocyclone is also equipped with feed means 4 of a coagulating agent also provided in the lower part of the cylindrical portion 1 of the hydrocyclone.

The lower conical portion 2 of the hydrocyclone is provided with means for supplying a fluid under pressure, connected to the apex of the conical portion 2 and incorporating a valve 6. The hydrocyclone also has means 8 for the recovery of floated flocs comprising a central cylindrical member 8a, which can be connected to a pipe and means 9 for evacuating the treated fluid, comprising in this embodiment a chute 9a provided around the upper end of the hydrocyclone. In such equipment, the fluid is subjected to an external vortex flow symbolized by the spiral 7 which follows the internal walls of the hydrocyclone and has a high velocity gradient, in practice between 200 s ^-1 and 1000 s ^-1 and an internal vortex flow having a low velocity gradient, in practice between 20 s ^-1 and 100 s ^-1 , along the vertical axis of the hydrocyclone. During the implementation of the method, the pressurized water, having a pressure of 3.5 bar and arriving by the feed means 5 in the lower part of the hydrocyclone passes abruptly to atmospheric pressure. reigning inside of it. This sudden passage causes the formation of microbubbles of air having a diameter between (30 microns and 45 microns) These microbubbles of air serve as a germination medium for the formation of the flocs These flocs are formed on these micro -bubbles in the outer zone of the vortex by neutralization of the charges relative to solid particles which can then aggregate through the coagulant provided by the means 4. This germination of coagulation is made possible by the presence of speed gradients The flocs formed around the micro-microbubbles are then centrifuged and separated by flotation in the heart of the hydrocyclone where the speed gradients are lower and conducive to the continuation of the flocculation phenomenon.

These flocs thus separate from the rest of the aqueous fluid by flotation in the upper part of the hydrocyclone. They are recovered by means 8 provided for this purpose in the upper part of the hydrocyclone, while the treated fluid is also recovered in the upper part thereof through the means 9.

Claims

A method of treating an aqueous fluid to separate suspended matter and / or colloidal material and / or dissolved organic or inorganic matter and / or a fat phase by flotation, characterized in that it consists in passing said aqueous fluid in a hydrocyclone-forming reactor in the presence of micro-bubbles of air and at least one reagent chosen from the group consisting of organic or inorganic coagulating agents, organic or inorganic flocculation agents, surfactants, reagents used to adjust the pH, precipitation initiators.

2. Method according to claim 1 characterized in that said reagent is a coagulating agent and / or a flocculating agent for causing within said hydrocyclone coagulation and flocculation of at least a portion of the suspended matter and / or the colloidal material and / or dissolved organic or inorganic materials and / or said fatty phase around said air micro-bubbles and the flotation of the flocs thus formed and separating said flocs from the rest of the treated aqueous fluid.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that said aqueous fluid is an emulsion.

4. Method according to claim 1 characterized in that said aqueous fluid is a water containing dissolved organic or inorganic materials that it is desired to precipitate and in that said reagent is a precipitation initiator agent.

5. Method according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that said aqueous fluid is a water which is desired to reduce the colloidal material content and / or suspended material.

6. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the fluid to be treated is brought tangentially in a lower portion of said hydrocylone.

7. Method according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that pressurized water is fed into a lower portion of said hydrocyclone to form by relaxation said microbubbles upon its entry into it.

8. The method of claim 7 characterized in that said pressure is between 2 bar and 6 bar.

9. Method according to one of claims 7 and 8 characterized in that the pressurized water is fed into the hydrocyclone at a rate corresponding between 2% and 15% of the inlet flow rate of the fluid to be treated in said hydrocyclone.

10. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 characterized in that said air micro-bubbles has a diameter of between 20 microns and 150 microns.

11. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 characterized in that said reagent is injected into the fluid to be treated just before entering said hydrocyclone.

12. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 characterized in that said reagent is injected into said hydrocyclone.

13. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 12 characterized in that the fluid to be treated is fed into the lower part of said hydrocyclone and in that the treated fluid is recovered in the upper part thereof.

14. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 1 3 characterized in that said hydrocyclone has a cylindrical body.

15. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a step of recycling the treated fluid in said hydrocyclone.