Oil droplet movement and micro-flow characteristics during interaction process between gas bubble and oil droplet in flotation

Flotation is an efficient pre-treatment technology for oily water. In this work, the interaction process between the moving oil droplet and the gas bubble was studied by high-speed camera and Bassset-Boussinesq-Oseen (BBO) theoretical model, and the experimental and simulation results of the oil droplet trajectory were compared. Moreover, the micro-particle image velocimetry system was utilized to observe the flow inside and outside of the moving oil droplet. The results show that the BBO model with the mobile bubble's surface can reflect the velocity change trend of the oil droplet during the interaction process between the moving oil droplet and the gas bubble, but there are some significant differences between the experimental and simulation results. While the oil droplet is moving on the bubble's surface, the velocity of the area near the contact point of oil droplet–gas bubble is less than that of the other areas inside the oil droplet. Meanwhile, the flow of water above the oil drop is more biased towards the gas bubble.