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Strategy for Controlling the Level in a Dissolved Air Flotation Chamber



Author(s)

Rodrigo Almeida Galdino¹, Alex Elton de Moura^{2, 3}, Valdemir Alexandre dos Santos^{1, 3} and Leonie Asfora Sarubbo^{1, 3*}

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DOI:10.17265/1934-7375/2015.05.006

1. Center for Sciences and Technology, Catholic University of Pernambuco, Recife-PE 50.050-900, Brazil 2. Center for Technology and Geosciences, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife-PE 50.050-900, Brazil 3. Center for Technology and Innovation Management, Recife-PE 50.050-900, Brazil

The aim of the present study was to implant an efficient strategy for controlling the level of the effluent-oily foam interface in a DAF (dissolved air flotation) chamber of a pilot-scale prototype. DAF has been successfully used in the treatment of oily water, which is one of the main environmental problems in different industrial facilities. Along with important operational parameters, such as microbubble size and flow rate, the control strategy for the automation of a DAF chamber may be an important tool for increasing efficiency. Controlling the level was the strategy chosen to enhance the separation efficiency in a pilot-scale DAF prototype, with monitoring performed using a computational program in LabVIEW (laboratory virtual instrument engineering workbench). The findings demonstrate that it is possible to maintain the level of the fluid at a reference value established by the operator using the software program through the application of classic proportional integral derivative controllers. Using this control tool, the efficiency of water-oil separation in the pilot flotation chamber prototype was increased to nearly 98%.

Dissolved air flotation, level control, LabVIEW, proportional integral derivative, liquid-liquid separation.