Analysis of floc morphology in a continuous-flow flocculation and sedimentation reactor

The floc morphology was investigated in a continuous-flow reactor, in order to understand the evolution of flocs in practical flocculation and sedimentation processes in water utilities. Kaolin-humic acid suspension was used as the test water, and polyaluminum chloride was chosen as the coagulant. An in-situ recognition system was applied to analyze the floc size, boundary fractal dimension, and eccentricity ratios. Particle numbers and turbidity were also determined in the sedimentation stage. At a coagulant dose of 1 mg/L as Al, the average floc size increased from 62 to 78 μm and the boundary fractal dimension was around 1.14, suggesting that flocs were compact and continuously grew during the entire flocculation process. However, with the dose increased to 5 mg/L, the average floc size decreased and stabilized at around 65 μm, with the fractal dimension of 1.20. It can be concluded that the excess coagulant doses resulted in the formation of chain-shaped, lower density, and more branched structure flocs, thereby restricting flocs' further growth in the subsequent flocculation. Floc morphology analysis suggested that charge neutralization dominated in the initial flocculation stage, then the bridge and sweep mechanisms were dominant in the subsequent flocculation. In addition, compared with the traditional inclined plate settler, a novel V-shaped plate settler introduced in this study had an advantage in small size floc(less than 5 μm) removal. The V-shaped region could promote aggregate restructuring and re-flocculation; therefore, the V-shaped plate settler provides an alternative method for sedimentation.     

Hydrolysis of polyaluminum chloride prior to coagulation: Effects on coagulation behavior and implications for improving coagulation performance

The effects of polyaluminum chloride (PACl) hydrolysis prior to coagulation on both the coagulation zone and coagulation performance of a kaolin suspension were investigated by a novel jar test named the “reversed coagulation test”. The tests showed that PACl hydrolysis prior to coagulation decreased the performance of charge neutralization coagulation in the case of short-time slow mixing (10 min; G = 15 sec ?1 ) and increased the optimal dosage for charge neutralization and sweep coagulation. Moreover, the hydrolysis time had insignificant effects on the size and zeta potential of PACl precipitates and the residual turbidity of the raw water. However, PACl hydrolysis prior to coagulation and the size of PACl precipitates had a negligible effect on the performance of sweep coagulation.The results imply that, in practice, preparing a PACl solution with deionized water, rather than tap water or the outlet water from a wastewater treatment unit, can significantly save PACl consumption and improve the performance of charge neutralization coagulation,while preparing the PACl solution with tap or outlet water would not affect the performance of sweep coagulation. In addition, the optimal rapid mixing intensity appears to be deter-mined by a balance between the degree of coagulant hydrolysis before contacting the primary particles and the average size of flocs in the rapid mixing period. These results provide new insights into the role of PACl hydrolysis and will be useful for improving coagulation efficiency.     

Coagulation efficiency and flocs characteristics of recycling sludge during treatment of low temperature and micro-polluted water

Drinking water treatment sludge, characterized as accumulated suspended solids and organic and inorganic matter, is produced in large quantities during the coagulation process. The proper disposal, regeneration or reuse of sludge is, therefore, a significant environmental issue. Reused sludge at low temperatures is an alternative method to enhance traditional coagulation efficiency. In the present study, the recycling mass of mixed sludge and properties of raw water (such as pH and turbidity) were systematically investigated to optimize coagulation efficiency. We determined that the appropriate dosage of mixed sludge was 60 mL/L, effective initial turbidity ranges were below 45.0 NTU, and optimal pH for DOMs and turbidity removal was 6.5--7.0 and 8.0, respectively. Furthermore, by comparing the flocs characteristics with and without recycling sludge, we found that floc structures with sludge were more irregular with average size growth to 64.7 μupm from 48.1 μupm. Recycling sludge was a feasible and successful method for enhancing pollutants removal, and the more irregular flocs structure after recycling might be caused by breakage of reused flocs and incorporation of powdered activated carbon into larger flocs structure. Applied during the coagulation process, recycling sludge could be significant for the treatment of low temperature and micro-polluted source water.     

Coagulation behavior and floc properties of compound bioflocculant-polyaluminum chloride dual-coagulants and polymeric aluminum in low temperature surface water treatment

This study was intended to compare coagulation behavior and floc properties of two dualcoagulants polyaluminum chloride–compound bioflocculant(PAC–CBF)(PAC dose first) and compound bioflocculant–polyaluminum chloride(CBF–PAC)(CBF dose first) with those of PAC alone in low temperature drinking water treatment. Results showed that dualcoagulants could improve DOC removal efficiency from 30% up to 34%. Moreover, CBF contributed to the increase of floc size and growth rate, especially those of PAC–CBF were almost twice bigger than those of PAC. However, dual-coagulants formed looser and weaker flocs with lower breakage factors in which fractal dimension of PAC–CBF flocs was low which indicates a looser floc structure. The floc recovery ability was in the following order:PAC–CBF PAC alone CBF–PAC. The flocculation mechanism of PAC was charge neutralization and enmeshment, meanwhile the negatively charged CBF added absorption and bridging effect.     

Demulsification performance and mechanism of oil droplets by electrocoagulation: Role of surfactant

Surfactants are widely used to improve the solubility of oil in water in petrochemical, making it more difficult to remove oil–water emulsions during the water treatment process. Electrocoagulation (EC) is an appropriate method for treating oily wastewater and destabilizing emulsions. However, the demulsification mechanism of oil–water droplets emulsified by surfactants with different charges have not been investigated systematically. The demulsification performance of electrocoagulation on emulsions wastewater containing cationic, non-ionic, and anionic surfactants was studied. The results showed that the removal rate of total organic carbon (TOC) in oily wastewater with anionic surfactant by EC reached 92.98% ± 0.40% at a current density of 1 mA/cm², while that of the non-ionic surfactant was 84.88% ± 0.63%. The characterization of flocs showed that EC has the highest coagulation and demulsification of oil droplets with a negative charge on the surface (−70.50 ± 10.25 mV), which indicated that the charge neutralization of oil droplets was beneficial for the destabilization of the formed oily flocs. However, when the zeta potential of the oil droplets reached 75.50 ± 1.25 mV, the TOC removal efficiency was only 11.80% ± 1.43%. The TOC removal could achieve 33.23% ± 3.21% when the current density improved from 1 mA/cm² to 10 mA/cm². The enhanced removal was due to the sweep coagulation rather than charge neutralization. This study provides a fundamental basis for the electrochemical treatment of oily wastewater.     

Influence of COM-peptides/proteins on the properties of flocs formed at different shear rates

Coagulation followed by floc separation is a key process for the removal of algal organic matter(AOM) in water treatment. Besides optimizing coagulation parameters,knowledge of the properties of AOM-flocs is essential to maximizing AOM removal.However, the impact of AOM on the floc properties remains unclear. This study investigated how peptides/proteins derived from the cellular organic matter(COM) of the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa influenced the size, structure, and shape of flocs formed at different shear rates(G). Flocs formed by kaolinite, COM-peptides/proteins and a mixture of the same were studied, and the effect of intermolecular interactions between floc components on floc properties was assessed. The coagulation experiments were performed in a Taylor–Couette reactor, with aluminum(Al) or ferric sulphate(Fe) utilized as coagulants. Image analysis was performed to gauge floc size and obtain data on fractal dimension. It was found that floc properties were affected by the presence of the COM-peptides/proteins and the coagulant used. COM-peptides/proteins increased floc size and porosity and widened floc size distributions. The Fe coagulant produced larger and less compact flocs than Al coagulant. Moreover, the decrease in floc size that occurred in parallel with increase in shear rate was not smooth in progress. A rapid change for the kaolinite-coagulant suspension and two rapid changes for the suspensions containing COM were observed. These were attributed to various intermolecular interactions between floc components participating in coagulation at different G. Based on the results obtained, shear rates suitable for efficient separation of flocs containing COM were suggested.     

Influence of floc dynamic protection layer on alleviating ultrafiltration membrane fouling induced by humic substances

Cake layer formation is inevitable over time for ultrafiltration (UF) membrane-based drinking water treatment. Although the cake layer is always considered to cause membrane fouling, it can also act as a “dynamic protection layer”, as it further adsorbs pollutants and dramatically reduces their chance of getting to the membrane surface. Here, the UF membrane fouling performance was investigated with pre-deposited loose flocs in the presence of humic acid (HA). The results showed that the floc dynamic protection layer played an important role in removing HA. The higher the solution pH, the more negative the floc charge, resulting in lower HA removal efficiency due to the electrostatic repulsion and large pore size of the floc layer. With decreasing solution pH, a positively charged floc dynamic protection layer was formed, and more HA molecules were adsorbed. The potential reasons were ascribed to the smaller floc size, greater positive charge, and higher roughness of the floc layer. However, similar membrane fouling performance was also observed for the negative and positive floc dynamic protection layers due to their strong looseness characteristics. In addition, the molecular weight (MW) distribution of HA also played an important role in UF membrane fouling behavior. For the small MW HA molecules, the chance of forming a loose cake layer was high with a negatively charged floc dynamic protection layer, while for the large MW HA molecules it was high with a positively charged floc dynamic protection layer. As a result, slight UF membrane fouling was induced.     

Advanced lignin-acrylamide water treatment agent by pulp and paper industrial sludge：Synthesis, properties and application

A novel flocculant LA （lignin-acrylamide polymer）, which was used as aid for aluminum sulfate and polyaluminum chloride in this study, was prepared by grafting acrylamide onto lignin that deriving from pulp and papermaking sludge. Physicochemical properties of LA were measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The experimental outcome indicated acrylamide was grafted onto the lignin backbone successfully. The effects of LA addition were evaluated on coagulation performance and floc characteristics as a function of aluminum （Al） dosage, such as floc size, growth rate, strength and recoverability. Effects of different dosing sequences, Al dosed first and LA dosed first, were also investigated. LA used as coagulant aid markedly enhanced the removal efficiency of turbidity and dissolved organic carbon, especially at low Al dosages. The dissolved organic carbon removal efficiencies of aluminum sulfate and polyaluminum chloride at the Al dosage range selected in this study were improved more than 30% and 5% by LA, respectively. LA dramatically enlarged floc size and it was in the order： Al dosed first 〉 LA dosed first 〉 Al. Floc strength and recoverability were also improved by LA. LA played a significant role in charge neutralization, adsorption and bridging in floc formation.     

Particle size distribution and removal by a chemical-biological flocculation process

The particle characterization from the influent and effluent of a chemical-biological flocculation （CBF） process was studied with a laser diffraction device. Water samples from a chemically enhanced primary treatment （CEPT） process and a primary sediment tank process were also analyzed for comparison. The results showed that CBF process was not only effective for both the big size particles and small size particles removal, but also the best particle removal process in the three processes. The results also indicated that CBF process was superior to CEPT process in the heavy metals removal. The high and non-selective removal for heavy metals might be closely related to its strong ability to eliminate small particles. Samples from different locations in CBF reactors showed that small particles were easier to aggregate into big ones and those disrupted flocs could properly flocculate again along CBF reactor because of the biological flocculation.     

Influential factors of formation kinetics of flocs produced by water treatment coagulants

The growth rate and size of floc formation is of great importance in water treatment especially in coagulation process.The floc formation kinetics and the coagulation efficiency of synthetic water were investigated by using an on-line continuous optical photometric dispersion analyze and the analysis of water quality.Experimental conditions such as alum dosage,pH value for coagulation,stirring intensity and initial turbidity were extensively examined.The photometric dispersion analyze results showed that coagulation of kaolin suspensions with two coagulants(alum and polyaluminium chloride) could be taken as a two-phase process:slow and rapid growth periods.Operating conditions with higher coagulant doses,appropriate pH and average shear rate might be particularly advantageous.The rate of overall floc growth was mainly determined by a combination of hydraulic and water quality conditions such as pH and turbidity.The measurement of zeta potential indicates that polyaluminium chloride exhibited higher charge-neutralizing ability than alum and achieved lower turbidities than alum for equivalent Al dosages.Under the same operating conditions,the alum showed a higher grow rate,but with smaller floc size.