Wastewater Treatment via Microbubble Flotation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for treating wastewater containing cosmetic products are complex, costly, and difficult to implement, especially in areas without available industrial water treatment capacity, and they often rely on flocculants and coagulants that increase environmental impact.
Innovation Solution
A wastewater treatment system that uses a bubble generator to create micro-bubbles in the wastewater, separating surfactants and impurities at the air-water interface without the need for flocculants or coagulants, allowing for efficient purification and collection of treated water and a frothy supernatant, which can be further treated externally.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If flocculants and coagulants are injected into wastewater to treat it, then water purification is achieved, but device complexity and environmental impact increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the need for flocculants and coagulants from the wastewater treatment process. Instead of adding chemical substances, the system uses a bubble generator to create microbubbles that physically separate contaminants from water through flotation, thereby simplifying the device and reducing environmental impact while maintaining purification effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the chemical treatment system (flocculants and coagulants) with a mechanical/physical system (bubble generator creating microbubbles). This substitution eliminates complex chemical management while achieving contaminant separation through the mechanical action of microbubble flotation, resolving the contradiction between purification effectiveness and system complexity
2Manufacturing precision
If flocculants and coagulants are used for wastewater treatment, then water purification is achieved, but environmental impact increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention converts the harmful effect of chemical additives into a beneficial physical process. Instead of using harmful flocculants and coagulants, the system utilizes the natural property of microbubbles to float contaminants to the surface, where they can be easily removed. This transforms a potentially harmful chemical approach into a benign physical separation method, reducing environmental impact while maintaining purification effectiveness
3Manufacturing precision
If industrial water treatment capacity is available, then wastewater can be treated, but in many areas treatment capacity is limited or unavailable
Solution Approach 1:
The invention enables wastewater treatment systems to be self-sufficient and independent of external industrial treatment infrastructure. The compact device with bubble generator can be deployed in any location, allowing communities without industrial treatment capacity to treat their own wastewater on-site. This self-service capability makes the system adaptable to diverse geographical and infrastructural conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the operational parameters of wastewater treatment from large-scale industrial processing to small-scale decentralized treatment. By using microbubbles instead of heavy chemical treatments, the system can operate effectively in various environmental conditions and locations, significantly improving adaptability across different regions while maintaining treatment effectiveness
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides a simple, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly method for treating wastewater, reducing the environmental impact by eliminating the need for chemical treatments and achieving rapid and efficient water purification, suitable for areas with limited or no industrial water treatment capacity.
Implementation Method 1
separating surfactants and impurities at the air-water interface
Implementation Method 2
uses a bubble generator to create micro-bubbles in the wastewater
Implementation Method 3
collect at this interface the surfactants and/or the hydrophobic compounds and/or the impurities present in the waste water
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a system (18) for treating waste water containing at least one cosmetic product, which system (18) can be placed in an application space (12) for applying cosmetic product on a user. The system (18) comprises: a tank (36) for holding and separating the waste water; an inlet (38) for moving untreated waste water into the holding tank (36); a bubble generator (32) capable of feeding an amount of bubbles into the waste water of the holding tank (36) so as to produce treated water in a lower region (50) of the holding tank (36) and a supernatant in an upper region (52) of the holding tank (36); a lower outlet (40) for recovering treated water from the holding tank (36); and an upper outlet (42) for discharging a foamy supernatant from the holding tank (36). The system (18) is devoid of means for injecting a compound for flocculating and/or coagulating the waste water at least upstream from the holding tank (36). The invention also comprises an application arrangement (10; 110) for applying cosmetic product on a user, including the aforementioned system (18), and a method for treating waste water containing at least one cosmetic product.