Next page Previous page

floating strainer

A buoyant pump suction end that draws its water from near the surface of
the free-water level and thus pumping almost clear water. Serves to
decant. A floating strainer may be used in dealing with bodies of water
other than in properly constructed sumps. Nelson

float mineral

Small fragments of any ore carried away from the ore bed by the action of
water or by gravity alone, often leading to the discovery of mines;
See also:floater; float ore; float. Standard, 2

float ore

Scattered fragments of vein material broken from outcrops and dispersed in
soil; a type of float. See also:float; float mineral; shode.
AGI

floats

Fractions with a defined upper limit of specific gravity and so described;
e.g., floats, sp gr, 1.40. BS, 5

floatstone

a. A miners' term for cellular or honeycomb quartz detached from a lode.
b. A lightweight, porous, friable variety of opal that floats on water and
occurs in white or grayish, spongy, and concretionary or tuberous masses;
also spelled float stone. Syn:swimming stone
c. A carbonate rock containing a few bioclasts or other fragments more
than 2 mm in diameter, widely spaced, and embedded in sand- or mud-size
carbonate sediment that forms over 90% of a rock.

float sulfur

See:flake sulfur

float valve

a. Syn. for a ball-and-seat type apparatus inserted in a pipe, casing, or
drill-rod string being lowered into a borehole. See also:float
Long
b. A valve operated by a float. Long

floc

a. A loose, open-structured mass formed in a suspension by the aggregation
of minute (colloidal) particles. ASCE
b. A small aggregate of tiny sedimentary grains. AGI
c. A flocculent mass formed by the aggregation of a number of fine
suspended particles. Syn:floccule

flocculate

a. To cause particles to aggregate in large particles. Usually
accomplished with polymer, both natural or synthetic. Webster 3rd
b. To thicken a clay suspension by addition of synthetic polymer.
c. The addition of a suitable electrolyte to a clay suspension to cause
the clay particles to agglomerate and settle.
d. Something that has flocculated; a flocculent particle or mass; a floc;
a floccule. Webster 3rd

flocculating

a. The thickening of the consistency of a slip by adding a suitable
electrolyte. ASTM
b. The agglomeration of clay particles in a clay suspension by adding an
electrolyte.

flocculating agent

A reagent added to a dispersion of solids in a liquid to bring together
the fine particles to form flocs. These reagents usually consist of long
chain polymers, both natural and synthetic. BS, 5

flocculation

The process by which a number of individual, minute suspended particles
are tightly held together in clotlike masses, or are loosely aggregated or
precipitated into small lumps, clusters, or granules; e.g., the joining of
soil colloids into a small group of soil particles, or the deposition or
settling out of suspension of clay particles in salt water.
See also:coagulation; floc. AGI

floccule

A small, loosely aggregated mass of material suspended in or precipitated
from a liquid. One of the flakes of a flocculent precipitate. Syn:floc
Webster 3rd

flocculent

Coalescing and adhering in flocks. A cloudlike mass of precipitate in a
solution. From the Latin floccus, meaning lock of wool.

flocculent deposit

An aggregate or precipitate of small lumps formed by chemical
precipitation. Hy

flocculent structure

An arrangement composed of flocs of soil particles instead of individual
soil particles. See also:soil structure; honeycomb structure;
single-grained structure. ASCE

Flodin process

A direct process for manufacturing steel, by means of which iron with a
carbon content from 0.2% upwards can be produced by smelting, in a
specially constructed electrical furnace, a mixture of hematite and coal,
or charcoal, the process being continuous. The reduced metal accumulates
at the bottom of the furnace, from which it is tapped. Both sulfur and
phosphorus are reduced to a low figure without additional refining, while
the manganese and silicon contents are controlled in the same way as in
the ordinary open-hearth process. Osborne

floe rock

Rock occurring in or taken from a body of talus; usually refers to
ganister. ARI

flohmig amber

See:fatty amber

floocan

See:flucan

flood basalt

See:plateau basalt