Study on the Kinetics of Air Flotation in the Removal of Acid Scarlet 3R

Air flotation is a process that uses tiny air bubbles as carriers to adhere impurity particles in water and reduce their density below that of water. This study applies the pressurized dissolved air flotation method to treat simulated wastewater of Acid Scarlet 3R. The flotation efficiency and the apparent activation energy of flotation are compared between the scenarios of adding and not adding the flotation reagent—cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. Both scenarios, with and without the flotation reagent, show a reaction order of 3 in kinetics. The apparent activation energies of flotation are –56.42 kJ/mol and 35.01 kJ/mol, respectively, with and without the flotation reagent. The removal effect of Acid Scarlet 3R is better with the addition of the flotation reagent, suggesting that the smaller the value of the apparent activation energy, the better the flotation efficiency.