UK-based Industrial Tomography Systems Ltd has developed a method of visualising bubble hold-up and distribution in flotation columns and stirred cells. The technique is based on impedance tomography, which uses multiple paired electrodes to measure electrical resistance within a cell. The data from these electrodes are then processed to provide operators with real-time images of the distribution of bubbles within the cell.

The company also offers a complementary imaging probe for use in stirred cells. The probe can be integrated with a baffle to provide instantaneous axial and radial composition profiles. The technology has already been applied at one Cornish, UK, operation of French-based industrial minerals producer Imerys SA.

The technology has been developed through the UK's Department of Trade and Industry's Foresight Challenge project. The £3.5 million project involved ten industrial partners, and the Universities of Leeds and Exeter and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.