Abstract
In this paper we developed a centrifugal pump adapter to produce microbubbles, after understanding the process of generating those microbubbles with the aid of simulations via Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). This device induces a flow of air in the suction line centrifugal pump, due to the negative pressure existing at this point in the installation. The adapter has been tested with the help of experiments type Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD). The independent variables were the ratio between the air flow and water (X1) and the ratio between the water flow and oil (X2). The experimental tests were applied to a pilot prototype DAF. The results indicated that the process of DAF can be highly effective using a device which enables the controlled air entry into a centrifugal pump, enabling the stable operation conditions to reduce experimental error. The desired stability was obtained, having registered an increase of 80.0% to 98.1% separation efficiency of the oily effluent, when we compared the microbubble production conditions, without and with using the adapter. Thus, the system proved to be advantageous compared to conventional water saturation process, allowing the reduction of space, equipment costs, labor, work and energy.
