After the EQ-tank an oil-water separator may be needed or coagulation and flocculation tanks or a tube bundle. The right equipment must be staged correctly and piped properly to achieve optimum DAF performance and chemical cost savings. Jar bench tests are necessary to indicate what combination and what chemical additives would be most beneficial ahead of the DAF cell before a pilot study is made.

The next portion of the wastewater treatment system is to evaluate the chemical process. The chemical system is responsible for the separation of suspended and dissolved particles in the wastewater. An EQ tank, oil-water separator, a coagulating tank, a flocculating tank or a tube bundle may all be essential for proper treatment of the wastewater before it reaches the DAF clarifier. Proper mixing time, and a good understanding of how and where to stage the chemical injection points are very important to the performance and low operating costs of the DAF cell.

Once the front-end equipment and chemical process is correct, the flocculated suspended solids enter our DAF Maximizer. Turbulence must be monitored and kept to a minimum as dissolved air is being introduced to the flocculated influent in the tank. Our DAF Maximizer uniquely maximizes this operation. To achieve the greatest efficiency it is important to understand and have accurate control of process flow conditions and air pressures. We use our Air Mixing Tube (AMT) to pressurize and supersaturate recycled water sending it to our Maximizer tank. Our AMT processes consistent sized air bubbles, 5 to 30 microns in diameter. The recycled water is uniformly injected under the agglomerated flock which optimizes and encourages the entrapment of the fine air bubbles in the flock without breaking up the flock. The amount of air required is small, normally one to three percent of the water volume and may vary depending upon the amount of solids in the liquid.

Other additional facts that contribute to the efficiency and economics of our Maximizer FC include: % Rapid Rising Velocity - three minutes or less compared to other clarifiers with water retention time of 15 to 30 minutes. % Water Depth - our tank water is only 15 to 18 inches deep. Because of this fact, only 150 pounds per square foot of floor support is needed and only half the floor space is necessary compared to a rectangular DAF clarifier. Due to the Rapid Rising Velocity and the Water Depth, our DAF Maximizer FC clarifies the same quantity of water per minute in half or less than half the floor space. And, due to the Rapid Rising Velocity and the Water Depth, the DAF Maximizer FC clarifies the same quantity of water in 3 minutes versus the 15 minutes other DAF cells require.

Raw or recycled water enters the AIR DISSOLVING TUBE tangentially at one end, pressurized to 4 - 6 bar, which is discharged at the opposite end. During the short passage the water rotates inside the tube and passes repeatedly by an insert which is fed by compressed air. Very thorough mixing under pressure dissolves the air in the water which is released to atmospheric pressure in the flotation cell. Suspended solids flocculated with the help of flocculants attach themselves to the air bubbles and come to the surface to form the sludge.

The SPIRAL SCOOP takes up the floated sludge, pouring it into the stationary center section, from where it is discharged by gravity, either for recycling or disposal. 

Clarified water is removed through extraction pipes which are connected to the moving center section. Part of the clarified water passes through the AIR DISSOLVING TUBE before joining the main stream of unclarified water. The clarified water extracted from the process normally contains less than 30 ppm of suspended solids. It can be recycled in the process or sewered.

Wiper blades attached to the moving distribution duct scrape the bottom and the sides of the tank, and discharge the settled sludge into the built - in sump for periodic purging.