Foam Fractionation: A Versatile Adsorptive Bubble Separation Technique

Cherry Auditorium, Kirk Hall

Adsorptive bubble separation processes may be employed in many fields of particular interest to chemical engineers, including: water purification and pollution control; mining and mineral recovery; biotechnology, enzymology, and fermentation; aquaculture; and the production and formulation of pharmaceuticals. Foam fractionation, one of several established adsorptive bubble separation processes, is a technique wherein the relative tendency of a molecule or molecules to adsorb to a gas-aqueous interface and form foam is utilized and optimized for the separation and purification of chemically-diverse molecules of interest from simple and complex mixtures. An introductory review of foam fractionation, some of its relevant processing parameters and methods, and some practical pharmaceutical and natural products purification applications, will be presented.