Flotation of blue-green algae using methylated egg ovalbumin

The removal of blue-green algae by dispersed gas flotation was conducted. Methylated ovalbumin (MeOA) was used as frother and flocculant, which is a biodegradable substance. The continuous flotation experiments were conducted at different feed mass flow rate of the blue-green algae cells and MeOA. The operating variables were the mass flow rate of blue-green algae cell and MeOA, the initial concentration of the cells and MeOA, and superficial gas velocity. The results showed that the mass flow rate of MeOA was the most dominant variable affected by the removal efficiency and that the removal efficiency achieved ca. 0.85 when a ratio of the mass flow rate of MeOA and that of the cells was over 0.3. A proposed flotation model considering the adsorptions of MeOA to the cells, MeOA to bubble surface and the cells bearing with MeOA to bubble surface was applied to explain the experimental removal efficiency. The experimental and the calculated removal efficiency were within error 19%, indicating that the proposed model was valid fundamentally. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.