Paper Deinking Flotation Cell (2D Cross-Section)

Watch the exact unit process real paper mills use to remove printing ink from recycled pulp, shown as a labeled 2D side cross-section: air bubbles rise from a sparger at the bottom of the cell through a slurry seeded with hydrophobic ink flecks and hydrophilic cellulose fibers, and only particles hydrophobic enough — set by the collector-driven contact angle — attach and ride the froth to the top. Tune contact angle, bubble diameter, airflow rate and pulp consistency and watch ink-removal efficiency, fiber yield and the resulting brightness gain respond in real time, exactly as the governing collision–attachment probability model predicts. A second panel plots the attachment-probability curve live against the current operating point.