MODULAR SYSTEM FOR THE RECTIFICATION OR SEPARATION OF SOLUBLE COMPONENTS IN SOLUTION BY FOAM FORMATION.

Abstract

The present invention relates to a modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by means of foam formation, which comprises: a first module containing a thermal control liquid or temperature control bath, through which a working gas is injected; said first module is connected by means of a first pipe to a second module where the working gas is saturated using the same solvent as the solution containing the soluble components to be separated; the second module is connected by means of a second pipe to a third module where the foam is formed; said third module is interconnected to a fourth module where the foam is actually generated and rectification takes place;The fourth module is connected by a pipe to a fifth module in which the temperature of the foam is reduced, thereby increasing the surface tension of said foam and, therefore, causing it to collapse; this fifth module is connected by a third pipe to a sixth module where the collapsed foam and liquid, enriched by the material(s) removed from the foam, are received; the fifth module is connected by a fourth pipe to a sixth module in which the opposing pressure is regulated during operation and which can be adjusted by the level of liquid used for gas scrubbing.

Description

MODULAR SYSTEM FOR THE RECTIFICATION OR SEPARATION OF SOLUBLE COMPONENTS IN SOLUTION BY FOAM FORMATION FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to the principles and techniques used in the Chemical Industry, particularly to apparatus and devices for bubble adsorption separation, and even more particularly to a modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by foam formation. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Bubble adsorption separation methods are used for the purification of commercial surfactants and mainly for the separation of natural products such as sugars, albumins, saponins, oligomers, blood serum, surfactants and biosurfactants, and a special case is the obtaining of purified proteins. Furthermore, due to the simplicity of its operating column, its main industrial application is in aquaculture for cleaning aquariums and fish farms. Other applications include wastewater treatment, both municipal and industrial, and more specifically in the pharmaceutical, textile, pulp and paper, food, and petrochemical industries. In the latter, equipment has also been developed that operates at oil reservoir pressures. Other applications include their integration with fermentation equipment and algae cultures to remove materials of interest or harmful to microorganisms, deionization, and the separation of enantiomers, heavy metals, and isotopes. However, such equipment is designed for a specific purpose, and although several column models exist, only about 3% of the patent documents found in the prior art in various national and international databases present a process measurement and / or control system. These patent documents do not include those with a defined application. The first patents related to the digital and automatic characterization of foams were filed in 2007 by Pavlovna et al. and Carroll et al. Both employ photographic analysis to determine foam height, as the equipment operates in batch mode. This digitization allows for greater reproducibility and automation of foam characterization compared to traditional Ross Miles and Bartsch systems. However, the equipment presented by Pavlovna et al. only determines the height, and foam generation is achieved through mechanical agitation. In contrast, the system by Carroll et al. also determines the foam characteristics, as well as the size and distribution of the foam bubbles; furthermore, it regulates the speed of foam formation by controlling the gas flow introduced into the equipment through a perforated plate. In 2009, Baranska presented a system for characterizing foaming ability and foam stability in a batch process over time. The most recent equipment used for measuring and regulating foam properties in batch processes includes those of Chen et al., Lunkenheimer & Geggel, Jilong et al., and Bait et al. The invention by Chen et al. incorporates a temperature control system, measures foam height and volume fraction, and modulates the gas flow used to form the foam. The collected data is processed using different algorithms to characterize the foam-generating agent. The invention by Lunkenheimer & Geggel presents an algorithm that improves foam characterization. Jilong et al. present a utility model that evaluates the aforementioned parameters under different pressures, while the model by Bait et al. analyzes only parameters related to gas dispersion and pre-foam dissolution under different pressure conditions. Only three models capable of controlling the operation, or having the instrumentation to evaluate process properties throughout the entire operating range, have been presented. The first of these was presented by Hou et al. (2016), demonstrating that control of the technique is a recent area of ​​interest because the analysis of the main variables governing the technique has only been systematized in recent years. Hou et al. presented an invention that analyzes the foam of a rectification process in a porous solid medium using photographs and tomography to obtain information on gas saturation. The inventions of Gao et al. and Behzad are unique in that, in addition to characterizing the foam, they use its measurements to regulate intrinsic process variables. Gao et al. introduced process control in 2017 via a human-machine interface, as their invention allows for the measurement of the final process concentration, enabling the operator to readjust the gas flow. Other parameters that the invention of Gao et al. can measure include the foam volume fraction and its height. nzccnn / Lznz / E / YiAi Finally, in 2018, Behzad presented a control system based on regulating the foam-solution interface height by controlling the liquid flow to the rectification process. Although his invention describes the use of any type of sensor to control the process, he indicates that concentration, gas flow, turbulence, and bubble size can be used. For measuring the foam-solution interface height, he proposed the use of capacitance, optical, and ultrasonic sensors. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by means of foam formation, which comprises: a first module containing a thermal control liquid or temperature control bath, through which a working gas is injected; said first module is connected by means of a first pipe to a second module where the working gas is saturated using the same solvent as the solution containing the soluble components to be separated; the second module is connected by means of a second pipe to a third module where the foam is formed; said third module is interconnected to a fourth module where the foam is actually generated and the rectification originates;The fourth module is connected by a pipe to a fifth module in which the temperature of the foam is reduced, thereby increasing the surface tension of said foam and, therefore, causing it to collapse; this fifth module is connected by a third pipe to a sixth module where the collapsed foam and liquid, enriched by the material(s) removed from the foam, are received; the fifth module is connected by a fourth pipe to a sixth module in which the opposing pressure is regulated during operation and which can be adjusted by the level of liquid used for gas scrubbing. nzccnn / Lznz / B / YiAi The modular system further comprises: a plurality of photographic cameras located in the fourth module to photographically capture the bubbles and cells that rise in both the gaseous dispersion and the foam, respectively, which in turn allows obtaining the capture of images for the morphological analysis of the bubbles or cells of said gaseous dispersion and foam, respectively; and, a plurality of light sources located in said fourth module. The first module comprises a coil that is immersed inside a chamber containing the temperature control bath. The second module comprises a first gas scrubber in which the working gas is saturated, such that said first scrubber must contain only solvent or a pre-foamed solution without the capacity to form foam so that only saturated gas comes out, wherein said first gas scrubber includes a jacket to fix the working temperature. The third module comprises a foam-forming diffuser, which is fixed but removable in the modular system to allow the exchange of plates with different pore sizes, said diffuser being located below the fourth module. The fourth module comprises an operating column or tank where the foam is actually generated and the rectification originates. This column, in turn, includes a first valve for the liquid inlet, and a plurality of valves located and distributed equidistantly from each other along its right side to allow the return of liquid, the introduction and / or extraction of liquid, or the intake of nzccnn / Lznz / E / YiAi The modular system according to the preceding claims, further characterized in that it can operate in batches, in semi-continuous or continuous mode, where: - In batch operation, foam generation is achieved by introducing a finite amount of gas in a short time interval, and not all of the target material is removed. - In semi-continuous operation, foam is generated with a continuous flow of gas, while in dissolution the volume is reduced, since no more solution is supplied. - In continuous operation, both the gas and the solution are continuously supplied to the column. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION Considering the disadvantages of bubble adsorption separation devices found in the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by means of foam formation that allows the measurement of the fundamental parameter that determines the quantification of the adsorption of materials at the gas-liquid interface, in addition to allowing the control of the intrinsic parameters of the liquid-interface-vapor partition and hydraulic parameters that standardize the study and operation of the foam rectification technique. A further object of the present invention is to provide the modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by foaming, which, unlike the methods found in the state of the art, introduces both surface tension and the ability to saturate and maintain the working gas pressure, since knowing the surface tension allows coupling thermodynamic models that molecularly characterize the materials with adsorption capacity, in addition to predicting the rectification performance. Another object of the present invention is to provide the modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by foaming, which allows the use of plates with different pore sizes for the generation of bubbles in the gas dispersion, which, in addition to regulating the gas pressure at the column inlet, modifies the bubble genesis, impacting both the size and distribution of the bubbles in the process and, therefore, the final performance of the separation of materials in solution. An additional object of the present invention is to provide the modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by foaming, which allows the collapse of the generated foam without the use of solvents, moving parts or complex geometries dependent on the foaming capacity of the solution to be treated. A further object of the present invention is to provide the modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by means of foam formation, which allows the separation of dissolved materials not precipitated, since it is not only necessary to generate foam in the solution containing the material to be separated, but to maintain said foam for a characteristic time and height to produce a concentration gradient in the foam. It is further an object of the present invention to provide the modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by the formation of foam in which a gas is introduced into a solution with dissolved materials that can be adsorbed to the gas-liquid interface formed with the surface of the bubbles, where said dissolved materials can be contaminants that are desired to be separated to have a solution of greater purity, or be materials of industrial value that, due to their solubility, cannot be removed by conventional separation techniques. It remains a further object of the present invention to provide the modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by foaming, a method of rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by foaming, which has the ability to be carried out under batch, semi-continuous or continuous operating conditions. Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by foam formation, which allows that in those cases where the materials to be separated do not adsorb to the gas-liquid interface, additional materials can be used that collect the target material by associating through physical interactions and dragging the target material to the interface. The foregoing and other objects, as well as the features and advantages of the present invention, will become more obvious when the embodiments of the present invention are described in more detail and with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are used to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present invention and form part of the description, but do not constitute a limitation of the present invention. In the drawings, the same numerical references generally represent identical or similar parts or steps. nzccnn / ίζηζ / ε / γίΛΐ BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF THE INVENTION The novel aspects that are considered characteristic of the present invention will be set forth in detail in the appended claims. However, the invention itself, both in terms of its organization and its method of operation, together with its other objects and advantages, will be better understood from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic front, top, and right-side perspective view of a modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by foaming, which has been developed and constructed in accordance with a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a photographic sequence of measurement of the morphological properties of the cell or bubble. Figure 3 is a graph showing the bubble size distribution with 0.5 mm pores and a concentration of 0.05% m. Figure 4 is a graph showing the bubble size distribution with 1 mm pores and a concentration of 0.01% m. Figure 5 is a graph showing the bubble size distribution with 0.5 mm pores and a concentration of 0.01% m. nzccnn / Lznz / E / YiAi DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a modular system (100) for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by foaming, wherein foam generation is carried out with a gas saturated with a solvent included in a solution to be foamed. Additionally, this modular system (100) allows for the monitoring of the solution, surface tension, volume fraction, and the size and distribution of bubbles in the gaseous dispersion cells, as well as of the foam, over time and position. The modular system (100) is described below in accordance with a particularly preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the present invention, for which reference is made to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, wherein said modular system (100) comprises: a first module (A) comprising a coil (1) immersed within a chamber (2) containing a thermal control liquid or temperature control bath that allows the temperature of a working gas injected through this first module (A) to be regulated; said first module is connected by means of a first pipe (3) to a second module (B) comprising a first gas scrubber (4) in which the working gas is saturated using the same solvent as the solution containing the soluble components to be separated,The first gas scrubber includes a jacket (5) to set the working temperature; the second module (B) is connected by means of a second pipe (6) to a third module (C) consisting of a diffuser (7) that allows foam formation, which is fixed, but removably in the modular system (100) to allow the exchange of plates (8) with different pore sizes; more specifically, the diffuser (7) is located below a fourth module (D) consisting of a column (9) or operating tank, which is where the foam is actually generated and the rectification originates; the column (9) includes a first valve (10) located on its left side, preferably near the lower end, for the liquid inlet, and a plurality of valves (11) located and distributed equidistantly from each other along its right side to allow the liquid return.the introduction and / or extraction of liquid, or the taking of samples operating as sampling ports at different heights or points of interest of said column (9); the fourth module (D) is connected by means of a pipe (12) to a fifth module (E) which is made up of a heat exchanger (13) to decrease the temperature of the foam that emerges from the column (9), thereby increasing the surface tension of said foam and, therefore, generating its collapse; said fifth module (E) is connected by means of a third pipe (14) to a sixth module (F) which is made up of a container (15) that receives the collapsed foam and liquid enriched by the material(s) removed in the foam; said container (15) includes a valve (16) located at its lower end for the liquid outlet and towards its upper part includes a fourth pipe (17) for gas outlet,where said fourth pipe (17) is connected to a seventh module (G) which consists of a second gas scrubber (18) that regulates the opposing pressure during operation and which can be adjusted by the level of liquid used for gas scrubbing. Additionally, the modular system (100) comprises: a plurality of photographic cameras (19), which in the present invention is preferred, but not limited to, said plurality of cameras (19) being made up of nine digital microscope cameras (19), which are distributed equidistantly from each other along one of the faces of the column (9), preferably on the front face;a plurality of light sources (20), which in the present invention is preferred, but not limited to, said plurality of light sources (20) being made up of nine LED-type light sources (19) located equidistant from each other on one of the faces of the column nzccnn / ίζηζ / Β / γίΛΐ (9), preferably on the front face, and more preferably said each of the nine light sources (20) are arranged facing each of the nine chambers (19), where said chambers (19) allow the photographic capture of the bubbles and cells that rise in both the gaseous dispersion and the foam, respectively, which in turn allows obtaining the capture of images for the morphological analysis of the bubbles or cells of said gaseous dispersion and foam, respectively. The temperature control bath is a liquid used, as its name indicates, to control the temperature of the gas being introduced, where, depending on the desired working temperature, the liquid can be a water-electrolyte solution or mineral oil. Additionally, the column (9) can be adapted to a rotameter (not shown in the figure) to quantify the gas entering the system, and this rotameter in turn can be connected to a pump (not shown in the figure) that would be responsible for introducing air into the system and generating bubbling. The length of the coil depends on the material with which it is constructed, where in turn this material depends on the chemical nature of the working gas, so this gas is selected from the group that includes: air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, ozone, among others. The washer should contain only solvent or a pre-foamed solution without the ability to form foam, so that only saturated air is released. nzccnn / ίζηζ / ε / γίΛΐ The first (3), second (6), and third (14) pipes, as well as pipe (12), are insulated to maintain the entire system at the same temperature, preferably with thermal blanket or fiberglass, and more preferably with fiberglass. Additionally, the design of the second pipe (6) prevents backflow of liquid. The plurality of valves (11) in the present invention is preferred, but not limited to, nine valves, preferably of the globe type, which are coupled with Luer locking fittings. The Luer locking pivot accommodates 1 to 3 ml syringes for sampling, as well as for measuring surface tension using droplet imaging, composition and concentration from density or surface tension standard curves, or by connecting chromatographic equipment, and for measuring conductivity, pH, and other parameters. With the same type of pivot, but with 10 to 20 ml syringes, it is possible to obtain samples at the foam site to perform the same preliminary characterizations, as well as to measure the volumetric fraction of the foam.Morphological measurements of bubbles and cells of gas dispersion and foam are performed in the shortest cross-section in such a way as to reduce the number of planes and the greatest number of bubbles captured in the image is in the plane of the camera used for image taking. In an additional aspect of the present invention, it is possible to include probes for measuring conductivity, pH, temperature, among other parameters, through the plurality of valves (11) or sampling ports, which can be coupled with Luer slipping outlets to connect cannulas that allow dynamic measurement of surface tension by image recognition. nzccnn / Lznz / E / YiAi In the second gas scrubber (18) of the sixth module (G), volatile materials from the solution and not present in the solvent used are captured, materials present in industrial, municipal and domestic wastewater treatment applications. The modular system (100) of the present invention can operate in batches, in semi-continuous or continuous mode. - In batch operation, foam generation is carried out by introducing a finite amount of gas in a short time interval and not all of the target material is removed. - In semi-continuous operation, foam is generated with a continuous flow of gas, while in dissolution the volume decreases since no more solution is supplied. - In continuous operation, both the gas and the solution are continuously supplied to the column (9). The first valve (10) included in the column (9) is used for liquid entry in continuous mode operation. The following is a brief description of how the modular system (100) of the present invention operates: nzccnn / Lznz / B / YiAi (a) the operation begins by activating the temperature control baths of the first (A), second (b), fourth (D) and sixth (F) modules, fixed at the working temperature that is defined by the operator when the invention is in operation, while the fifth module (E) is below the working temperature, but above the melting point of the solution; (b) the gas is introduced into the modular system (100) using any sampling valve or port (11) to measure the gas temperature, and when the latter reaches the working temperature the liquid or solution is incorporated into the modular system (100); (c) If the operation is in batches, the amount of liquid to be foamed is introduced and the passage of gas is allowed for the time that is also defined by the operator, and the inlet in the first module (A) is closed, and the liquid enters the system through the first valve (10): (d) In semi-continuous operation, the gas flow is not interrupted; (e) In continuous operation, it is required that one of the valves (11) or sampling ports located below the solution-foam interface allows the solution to exit; (f) The introduction of gas and solution or liquid can be done using pumps, or in the case of liquid, syringes can be used, depending on the mode of operation. nzccnn / ίζηζ / ε / γίΛΐ During the operation, images of the gas dispersion and foam are captured at intervals to obtain their morphological parameters. Samples are also taken to measure composition, surface tension, volume fraction, and other properties. The collected and collapsed foam can also be monitored during the operation or until its completion to determine enrichment and recovery parameters in real time or as a final parameter of the operation. All samples must be obtained using volumetric syringes to quantify the sample volume or mass. The minimum volume required to perform a set of tests for surface tension, density, and conductivity depends on the operating syringe, and the sample can always be diluted if the measuring equipment requires a larger sample size. The process of measuring morphological parameters is carried out with image captures and the MATLAB® software where the programming code, included in this patent application, generates as a final result a txt file that contains the area of ​​the circles in square pixels as the unit of measurement, coordinates where the centroid of the circles is located in the image and, finally, the major and minor diameter of the bubbles in pixels as the unit. The sequence followed by the programming code can be seen in the image. First, MATLAB® converts the original image to black and white. Then, using the props region tool, it identifies the circles or ellipses present in the image. Finally, the program generates an image highlighting the identified circles in red. In each measurement interval, between fifteen and twenty photographs are taken, from which those that do not contain different planes are selected. The selection criterion depends on the chosen photographs having the fewest possible clusters of bubbles; that is, avoiding images where bubbles overlap, as in the sample in Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings, specifically in illustration nzccnn / ίζηζ / ε / γίΛΐ with red border (row I), column A)), which is an example where many overlapping bubbles can be observed in the center. nzccnn / ίζηζ / Β / γίΛΐ The consequence of not following the above procedure is that the MATLAB® code treats the entire cluster of bubbles as a single unit instead of treating them individually. This is exemplified in Figure 2, specifically in the illustration in row I, column C, which describes the phenomenon previously outlined. On the other hand, the image outlined in green is an example of the type of image that should be selected for analysis, as it does not exhibit clusters. As a result, the image in row II, column C, shows that there is no large circle resulting from treating several bubbles as one. The programming code is shown below: I = imread('fail.bmp') ; I = rgb2gray(I) ; imshow(I) I bw=I<60 imshow(bw) stats = regionprops('table',bw,'Centroid',... 'MajorAxisLength','MinorAxisLength','Area') centers = stats.Centroid; diameters = mean([stats.MajorAxisLength stats.MinorAxisLength],2) radii = diameters / 2; hold on viscircles(centers,radii); hold off filename = 'fail.txt'; writetable (stats, filename) The present invention will be better understood from the following example, which is presented for illustrative purposes only, not as a limitation, to allow for a complete understanding of the embodiments of the present invention. This does not imply that other unillustrated embodiments do not exist and that they can be implemented based on the detailed description provided above. It is important to note that the data and experimental results obtained in the example described below are intended solely to provide the necessary elements for carrying out the invention and should not be considered as limiting its scope. EXAMPLE OF USE WITH ACRYLIC AND LAURYL SULFATE COLUMN An acrylic rectification column was designed with a rectangular prism geometry, with the following dimensions: 5 cm long, 2 cm deep, and 50 cm high. Additionally, another piece, called the diffuser chamber, was adapted to the bottom. This is also a rectangular acrylic prism, 2 cm long, 2 cm deep, and 5 cm high, but it lacks a top cover so that it can be connected to the rectification column. The diffuser is a 5 cm long by 0.4 cm high acrylic sheet with a depth of 2 cm, and its dimensions can be modified as needed for the experiment. Each diffuser has 10 evenly distributed holes: one with a 0.4 mm pore size, another with 0.5 mm pores, and finally one with 1 mm diameter holes. Along the column are nine globe valves that serve as solution extraction ports. Sampling at points of interest along the column can be performed using 3 ml syringes. The column is fitted with a rotameter to quantify the gas entering the system. This rotameter is connected to a pump that introduces air into the system and generates bubbling. nzccnn / Lznz / B / YiAi The bubbles formed were captured as they rose through the column using a Diño-Lite® digital microscope positioned in front of the column. For better photographic quality, a 30-watt white light bulb was used for illumination, and a tempered acrylic sheet was placed behind the column to provide a defined background. It should be noted that the photographs were taken randomly every 10 minutes with the room lights off; the only light source throughout the experiment was the bulb. nzccnn / Lznz / B / YiAi %m Pore n rectified DE(±) ER 0.01 1.0 mm 41.08 0.96 2.96 0.13 0.01 0.5 mm 41.31 0.22 1.88 0.08 0.05 0.5 mm 38.93 0.13 1.20 0.13 Table 1. Surface pressure of grinding, enrichment and recovery of the foam grinding operation. Figures 3 to 5 of the accompanying drawings show the results, under the current modular design for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by foam formation, of the analysis of the bubbles of the gaseous dispersion of the three conditions set out in the experiments of Table 1, fitting the data to amplitude functions of the Gaussian peak function and Weibult. More specifically, Figure 3 presents the bubble size histogram of the gas dispersion with a concentration of 0.05% sodium lauryl sulfate and the rectification with a 0.5 mm gas diffusing plate with a homogeneous polydispersity given by the homologous frequencies of the bubble sizes. Figure 4 shows a gaseous dispersion of a 0.01% aqueous surfactant solution and a rectification with a diffuser pore diameter of 1.0 mm where the bubble size exhibits low polydispersity due to the majority presence of bubbles less than 5 mm. Figure 5 shows the bubble size polydispersity of a 0.01% aqueous solution of sodium lauryl sulfate in a rectification column with a 0.5 mm pore size diffuser, where a bimodal distribution is present. The two applications derived from this invention are: the characterization of foams and / or materials with the capacity to form foams, and the control and / or automation of the rectification process. The batch or semi-continuous operation of the invention characterizes the foam in a time-controlled manner by removing moisture from the inlet gas, the main factor affecting the reproducibility of the Ross-Miles and Bartsch methods. The coupling of surface tension to the measurements allows for the dynamic and molecular characterization of the materials responsible for foam formation. The use of sampling ports and the system design incorporate control elements based on measuring parameters of the working fluids and adjusting the gas and liquid inlet, operating temperature, and regulating the outlet flows of the collapsed foam material. Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings, it should be understood that these exemplary embodiments are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It is likely that a person skilled in the art could make various changes and modifications to these embodiments, but without departing from the true scope and spirit of the present invention, whereby such changes and modifications must be intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims. In the particularly preferred embodiment described here, it should be understood that the modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components can be implemented in other ways, and therefore this embodiment of the modular system is merely illustrative. For example, one or more modules may be combined or integrated into another modular system, or some features may be omitted or simply not implemented. A person skilled in the art may understand that, in addition to the mutual exclusion of features, any possible combination may be adopted to incorporate and combine all the features disclosed by the description (including the appended claims, abstract, and drawings) and all processes or units of any method or device disclosed as such. Unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed by this description (including the appended claims, abstract, and drawings) may be replaced by an alternative feature that provides the same, equivalent, or similar purpose. Furthermore, a person skilled in the art may understand that, even though some of the embodiments described herein comprise some features included in other embodiments, rather than other features, combinations of features from different embodiments are considered to fall within the scope of the present invention and constitute different embodiments. For example, in the claims, any of the embodiments for which protection is sought may be used in various modes of combination. References in the description to a modality or modalities indicate that the described modality may include a particular aspect, feature, structure, or characteristic, but not all modalities necessarily include that aspect, feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, such phrases may, but do not necessarily, refer to the same modality mentioned elsewhere in the specification. Moreover, when a particular aspect, feature, structure, or characteristic is described in relation to a modality, it is within the knowledge of a person skilled in the art to affect or connect that aspect, feature, structure, or characteristic with other modalities, whether explicitly described or not. In other words, any element or characteristic may be combined with any other element or characteristic in different modalities, unless there is an obvious or inherent incompatibility, or it is specifically excluded. As such, an invention has been disclosed in terms of preferred embodiments thereof that fulfill each and every object of the present invention, as set forth above, and provide a modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by foaming. Of course, those skilled in the art may contemplate various changes, modifications, and alterations to the teachings of the present invention without departing from its intended spirit and scope. It is intended that the present invention be limited only by the terms of the appended claims. The terminology used herein is solely for the purpose of describing particular or preferred embodiments and is not intended to limit the invention. As described herein, the singular forms a, an, and the are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It shall be further understood that the terms comprise and / or comprising, when described in this specification, nzccnn / Lznz / B / YiAi specify the presence of stated features, whole numbers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more additional features, whole numbers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. As described herein, the term and / or includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated enumerated elements.Throughout the description, unless explicitly stated otherwise, the word understand and variations such as includes or that includes shall be understood to imply the inclusion of the stated elements, but not the exclusion of any other element. The use of the words first, second, and third does not imply any sequence. These words can be understood as a noun. The phrase "one or more" is easily understood by someone knowledgeable in the subject, particularly when read in the context of its use. As the person skilled in the subject will also understand, all language such as up to, at least, greater than, less than, more than, or above, and the like, includes the mentioned number, and these terms refer to ranges that can be further divided into subranges. For ranges of integers, the term approximately may include one or two integers greater than and / or less than a mentioned integer at each end of the range. Unless otherwise stated herein, the term approximately is intended to include values ​​and ranges close to the mentioned range that are equivalent in terms of the functionality of the composition, or modality. nzccnn / Lznz / B / YiAi Claims may be drafted to exclude any optional elements. As such, this statement is intended to serve as a basis for precedent regarding the use of proprietary terminology, such as solely, only, and the like, in connection with mentioning elements of a claim or using a negative limitation. The terms preferably, preferred, prefer, optionally, may, and similar terms are used to indicate that a referenced element, condition, or step is an optional (not required) feature of the invention. In summary, although the preceding detailed description of the present invention has referred to certain embodiments of the modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by foaming, it should be emphasized that numerous modifications to these embodiments are possible, but without departing from the true scope of the present invention, such that the features described in the aforementioned embodiments, shown in the figures and claimed in the claims chapter, as well as the features of different embodiments not described herein, may be used individually or in any arbitrary combination for the realization of the present invention.Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments of the present invention are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention except as provided in the prior art and the appended claims.

Claims

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS 1 A modular system for the rectification or separation of soluble components in solution by means of foam formation, characterized in that it comprises: a first module containing a thermal control liquid or temperature control bath, through which a working gas is injected; said first module is connected by means of a first pipe to a second module where the working gas is saturated using the same solvent as the solution containing the soluble components to be separated; the second module is connected by means of a second pipe to a third module where the foam is formed; said third module is interconnected to a fourth module where the foam is actually generated and the rectification originates;The fourth module is connected by a pipe to a fifth module in which the temperature of the foam is reduced, thereby increasing the surface tension of said foam and, therefore, causing it to collapse; this fifth module is connected by a third pipe to a sixth module where the collapsed foam and liquid, enriched by the material(s) removed from the foam, are received; the fifth module is connected by a fourth pipe to a sixth module in which the opposing pressure is regulated during operation and which can be adjusted by the level of liquid used for gas scrubbing.

2. The modular system according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises: a plurality of photographic cameras located in the fourth module to photographically capture the bubbles and cells that rise in both the gaseous dispersion and the foam, respectively, which in turn allows obtaining the capture of images for the morphological analysis of the bubbles or cells of said gaseous dispersion and foam, respectively; and, a plurality of light sources located in said fourth module.

3. The modular system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the first module comprises a coil that is immersed within a chamber containing the temperature control bath. 4 - The modular system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the second module comprises a first gas scrubber in which the working gas is saturated, such that said first scrubber must contain only solvent or a previously foamed solution without foaming capacity so that only saturated gas comes out, wherein said first gas scrubber includes a jacket for fixing the working temperature.

5. The modular system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the third module comprises a foam-forming diffuser, which is fixed but removably attached to the modular system to allow the exchange of plates with different pore sizes, said diffuser being located below the fourth module.

6. The modular system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the fourth module comprises an operating column or tank where the foam is actually generated and the rectification originates, said column in turn includes a first valve for the liquid inlet, and a plurality of valves located and distributed equidistantly from each other along its right side to allow the return of liquid, the introduction and / or extraction of liquid, or the taking of samples operating as sampling ports at different heights or points of interest of said column.

7. The modular system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the fifth module comprises a heat exchanger to reduce the temperature of the foam emerging from the column.

8. The modular system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the sixth module comprises a container that receives the collapsed foam and liquid enriched by the material(s) removed from the foam; said container in turn includes a valve for the liquid outlet, wherein the fourth pipe allows the gas outlet.

9. The modular system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the seventh module comprises a second gas scrubber to regulate the opposing pressure during operation, which can be adjusted by the level of liquid used for gas scrubbing.

10. The modular system according to claims 2 and 6, further characterized in that the plurality of photographic cameras is made up of nine digital microscope photographic cameras, which are distributed equidistantly from each other along the entire length of the column. 11 - The modular system according to claims 2 and 6, further characterized in that the plurality of light sources is made up of nine LED-type light sources that are distributed and separated equidistantly from each other along the entire length of the column, being arranged in a manner facing each of the nine photographic cameras. 1 2,- The modular system in accordance with the preceding claims, characterized in that the temperature control bath is a thermal control liquid that allows control of the temperature of the gas that is introduced, where, depending on the temperature at which it is desired to work, the liquid can be a water-electrolyte solution or mineral oil.

13. The modular system according to claim 6, further characterized in that the column can be adapted to a rotameter to quantify the gas entering the system, and said rotameter in turn can be connected to a pump that would introduce air into the system and generate bubbling. 14 - The modular system according to claim 1, characterized in that the first, second and third pipes, as well as the pipe connecting the fourth module to the fifth module, are insulated to maintain the entire system at the same temperature.

15. The modular system according to claim 6, characterized in that the plurality of valves is comprised of nine globe-type valves, which are coupled with Luer locking ends, wherein the Luer locking pivot couples 1 to 3 ml syringes for sampling, in addition to measuring surface tension by means of droplet imaging, composition and concentration from density or surface tension standard curves, or by coupling chromatographic equipment, as well as conductivity, pH, among other parameters. nzccnn / Lznz / B / YiAi 16. The modular system in accordance with the preceding claims, further characterized in that it can operate in batches, in semi-continuous or continuous mode. 17.- The modular system according to claim 16, further characterized in that in batch operation the foam generation is carried out by introducing a finite amount of gas in a short time interval and the entire target material is not removed.

18. The modular system according to claim 16, further characterized in that in the semi-continuous operation foam is generated with a continuous flow of gas, while in the dissolution the volume is reduced, since no more solution is supplied.

19. The modular system according to claim 16, further characterized in that in continuous operation both the gas and the solution are continuously supplied to the column.

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