Review of foam fractionation as a water treatment technology

Foam fractionation is a well-developed technology used to separate surface-active compounds from solution by exploiting their affinity for the air-water interface. The technology was founded in the 1940s and has since evolved into a key technology for treatment of many different pollutants from a variety of different industries such as textiles and dyes, heavy metals, proteins in food processing waste and even per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The technology has even progressed from a standard batch process to a continuous process with an applied reflux to being presently used as an in-situ groundwater remediation and soil remediation process. This review provides a snapshot of the historical evolution of foam fractionation, a discussion of the mechanism behind foam fractionation, the effect of key operating variables on the performance parameters, identification of the key transport processes that take place within a foam fractionation system, a review of the modeling of foam fractionation as a water treatment technology and a review of the applications of foam fractionation as a water treatment technology.

Automated summary

Foam fractionation is a well-developed technology for separating surface-active compounds from solutions, with applications in various industries such as textiles, heavy metals, and food processing waste. It has evolved from batch to continuous processes and is now also used for in-situ groundwater and soil remediation.