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Enhanced Microplastic Flotation: Unraveling the Role of Bubble-Chain Hydrodynamics Via Piv Analysis
Summary
Researchers used particle image velocimetry to show that increasing the number of bubbles in a bubble-chain flotation system creates overlapping vortices that expand the hydrodynamic field, boosting microplastic removal efficiency by up to 48.7% — providing a quantitative basis for improving dissolved air flotation treatment technologies.
) increased from 5.58 to 8.31 and 4.78 to 6.52, showing maximum increases of 44.8% and 48.7%, respectively. As the number of bubbles increased, the axial motion of the particles was significantly enhanced, which was attributed to the vertical expansion of the flow field, the increase in vorticity, and the formation of asymmetric flow structures as identified through particle image velocimetry (PIV) analysis. The formation of overlapping vortices within bubble-chain systems substantially broadens the effective hydrodynamic field, facilitating improved flotation of microplastic particles. This extended flow structure provides a quantifiable framework for enhancing the efficiency of dissolved air flotation (DAF) technologies, particularly in applications targeting microplastic separation.