Air-Sparged hydrocyclone technology (Figure 1) was initially developed at the U of Utah (Figure 2) in the 1980's to process and separate fine particles from water. The ASH has a specific capacity for fine particle flotation that is at least 100 times that of conventional flotation equipment. Recently, ASH technology has been applied to solve environmental problems (e.g., wastewater, oil spills, waste paper recycling/de-inking and soil remediation). Field (Figure 3) and laboratory (Figure 4) trials show that ASH technology removes volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at efficiencies comparable to that of a packed tower air-stripping system, with the potential for significant cost savings due to reduced operating space and simplicity of design.

U of Utah Researcher: JanMiller, Metallurgical Engineering

The magnetic separation process provides an alternative approach to the conventional washing and flotation techniques for de-inking of office waste paper (OWP). Magnetic de-inking has great potential to improve the efficiency of ink removal due to the magnetic content of toners. It is shown experimentally that the magnetic susceptibility of toners typically found in OWP varies from weakly paramagnetic to ferromagnetic.

U of Utah Researchers: JanMiller, Metallurgical Engineering

Jules Magda, Chemical & Fuels Engineering