Electrokinetic Flotation of Paint Solids in a Continuous Flow Tank

The treatment of water from paint spray booths in automobile assembly plants typically involves applications of large quantity of chemicals as coagulants and flocculants. Suspended paint solids are brought to water surface in sludge pits after these chemicals are added. The suspended paint particles are then mechanically collected and removed as sludge for further treatment and disposal. There are several disadvantages of the existing floatation process, including: 1 The cost of chemicals; 2 The dosage (feed rate) and type of chemicals need to be closely monitored and routinely tested to ensure the performance of the system. This increases the operation costs. 3 Unsatisfactory performance of the system may not be discovered and corrected immediately. This causes sludge build-up in the sludge pit and recirculation system, leading to additional maintenance costs. 4 Chemicals added to the sludge pit are non-recoverable and increase the mass and volume of the sludge generated in the process. This leads to higher disposal costs.