COAGULATION AND FLOCCULATION - ANKIT (Repaired)

FUNDAMENTALS OF FLOCCULATION AND
COUAGULATION AND
IT’S INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS
CONTENTS
 What is Water Chemistry?
 Colloidal System
 pH Notation
 Mineral and conductance
 Turbidity
 Coagulation
• The Double Layer Theory
 Flocculation
 Coagulation and Flocculation Chemicals
 Conclusion
WHAT IS WATER CHEMISTRY ?
 The detail study of water, its sources and about its molecular
structure is known as Water Chemistry or Hydrology.
 Water sources get contaminated by various human acts, such as
Municipal sewage, Industrial waste water, refused water from
mines, acid-rain, agricultural pollution etc., which is necessary to
control by treatments of waste water to save our environment.
 Some treatment methods are Coagulation & Flocculation,
Sedimentation, Aeration, Degasification, Evaporation and
freezing etc.
 Coagulation and Flocculation is widely used for Colloidal Systems.
COLLOIDAL SYSTEMS
 Some types of matter can be dispersed in water even though not truly soluble .
 This dispersion is accomplished by breaking down the material into an
extremely small size at the upper end of the size range for ions and molecules.
Particles of this size range are called colloids.
 As matter is reduced in size, the ratio of surface charge to mass increases
exponentially.
 Lets assume that a cube of sand measuring 1mm on each side is reduced to
colloidal size of 100 nm.
 This would produce 1012 colloidal particles with a total surface 10,000 times
larger than the original grain with a corresponding larger surface charge.
 It is this surface charge, which is negative for silica (Sand) in the example given
which causes colloidal particles to repel one another, thus maintaining the
stability of the dispersion.
THE pH NOTATION
 Alkalinity is the buffering capacity of a water body; a
measure of the ability of the water body to neutralize
acids and bases and thus maintain a fairly stable pH
level.
 Since the scale is logarithmic a drop in the pH by 1.0 unit
is a 10 fold increase in acidity.
 Example : a water sample with a pH of 5.0 is ten times as
acidic as one with a pH of 6.0.
Minerals and Conductance
 The higher the mineral content of the water, the higher

its conductivity .
 The higher the conductivity, more freely can electrical
current flow through the water and the more rapid is the
corrosion rate.
 The higher the conductivity, the less completely ionized
are the minerals dissolved in the water, as the ions are
packed more closely together and collide more
frequently.
Turbidity
 The concentration of colloidal particles is determined by filtration, the
collected solids on the filter membrane. Those particles which are large
and heavy are called settleable solids and the remaining with supernatant
water above the settled matter are fine and called turbidity.
 Turbidity in water is measured by the effect of the fine suspended particles
on a light beam.
Coagulation
 Water clarification, lime softening, sludge thickening and
dewatering depends on correct application of the theories of
coagulation and flocculation for their success.
 Turbid water contains suspended matter (both settleable and
dispersed particles) known as colloidal.
 Each particle is stabilized by negative electrical charges on its
surface, causing it to repel neighbouring particles just as magnetic
poles repel each other, called flocs, they do not settle.
 The charged particles attract a cloud of other charges to surround
the colloidal particle. This is often termed the ‘ double-layer theory’
or double layer model. So, colloids repel one another and they are
kept apart by the double layer effect.
The Double-Layer Theory
 Let for an illustrative purposes we will assume a negatively charge colloid. Closest to
the negative surface of the colloid there is a layer of strongly bound positive ions
known as the stern layer.
 Further positive ions are still attracted to the colloid but are repelled by the stern
layer; likewise, negative ions are attracted to the positive ions but repelled by the
colloid
 A dynamic equilibrium of negative and positive ions forms outside the stern layer,
known as diffuse layer. The concentration of positive ions in the diffuse layer gradually
decreases as the distance from the colloid increases until beyond a certain distance
the ion concentration are the same as the equilibrium in water.
 The point just outside the stern layer is called as the shear plane as motion of the
particle through the water shears the diffuse layer away.
 The thickness of these layers depends on the concentration of ions in solution. At any
distance from the surface the charge density is equal to the difference between the
concentration of positive and negative ions at that distance
 This results in an electrical potential existing across the layers. This potential
is greatest near the surface and decreases to zero as the distance from
the colloid increases.
 The potential difference at the boundary between the Stern layer and
Diffuse layer is called Zeta potential.
 Zeta-potential is a direct indication of the amount of energy required to
bring separate particles together.
 In general Coagulation is the destabilization of these colloids by
neutralizing the charge forces that keep them apart . This is
accomplished by adding chemical coagulants and applying mixing
energy.
Fig. Shows the action of repulsive charge and its potential difference
• Among the wide variety of colloidal materials in water, there is a
broad distribution of particle sizes. Following table shows how
particle size affect the tendency of particles to settle in quite water.
Particle Size vs. Settling rate Table

Particle Diameter Example Total Surface Time to Settle Time to settle
(mm) area One Feet One meter
(metric)
10 Gravel 3.1419 cm2 0.3 sec 0.98 sec
1 Coarse sand 31.419 cm2 3.0 sec 9.84 sec
0.1 Fine sand 314.19 cm2 38 sec 2.08 min
0.01 Slit 0.314 m2 33 min 1.80 hrs
*Assuming specific gravity of 2.65 (Silica)

*Assumes completely quiescent condition
Flocculation
 The floc formed by agglomeration of several colloids may not

be large enough to settle or dewater at the desired rate.
 A flocculants gather flocs particle together in a net, bridging
form one surface to another and binding the individual
particles into large agglomerates as shown in picture.
 Flocculation is promoted by slow mixing, which brings the flocs
gently together; too high a mixing velocity tears them apart
and they seldom re-form to their optimum size and strength.
 Flocculation is not only increases the size of floc particles, but it
also affects the physical nature of floc.
 Sludge and slurries when flocculated , dewater at faster rates on
sand beds and in mechanical dewatering equipment because of
the less gelatinous structure of the floc.
Left fig. shows addition of coagulant and charge neutralization

Right fig. shows bridging action of flocculants
Coagulation and Flocculation Chemicals
 These are of three general categories.
1. Inorganic Chemicals (metal salts)
2. Polyelectrolytes
Historically, Metal salts (alum and iron salts) have been most widely used in
water clarification. These products function both as coagulants and flocculants.
 When added to water, they form positively charged species in the typical pH
range for clarification, about 6-8. This hydrolysis reaction produces insoluble
gelatinous aluminium or ferric hydroxide.
 Some examples of inorganic chemicals are Alum, Lime, Ferric chloride, Ferric
Sulphate, Sodium Aluminate, Polyaluminium chloride, Aluminium chloride,
polyaluminium silicate sulfate etc.
Continued………1
Polyelectrolytes
 The performance of these materials can be modified to suit the nature
of the colloidal matter to be removed from the water.
 Most polyelectrolytes are synthetic organic materials. These are
categories as cationic, anionic and non-ionic.
 The Cationic Polyelectrolytes are either polyamines or quaternary
amines.
 The anionic polymers incorporate a carboxyl group (-COOH) in their
structure.
 The ionic nature of polyelectrolytes is only one factor determining the
performance of these materials as coagulants and flocculants.
Continued………2
 Organic Polymers do not affect the pH of the water and generaly do not
require pH adjustment for effective use.
 So, as a general rule, cationics are designed to work at lower pH values,
anionincs at higher. Nonionics and quaternaries are only slightly
influenced by pH.
 Organic Polymers used in water treatment are of two major types,
Coagulants and flocculants. Coagulants are positively charged
molecules of relatively low molecular weight.
 Flocculant polymers have much higher molecular weight, providing long
bridges between small flocs to enhance particle growth.
 Unlike inorganic salts, polymers do not produce voluminous, gelatinous
floc.
Continued………3
 Two types of laboratory tests are used to select the best chemical and
approximate dosage level required for clarification: (1) the jar test, and (2)
the cylinder test. Jar test is for streams or rivers while cylinder test is for coal and
mineral processing waste water.
 Polyacrylamide, ammonium polyacrylamide, Mainichi polymers,
Polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) etc. are some examples of
polymers.
Class Mol. wt. ranges Form and availability
1. Cationic Coagulants Below 100,000 All are available as aqueous
Polyamines solution
PolyDADMAC
2. Cationic Flocculants Over 10,00,000 Powder or emulsions
Acrylamide and DMAEM
Acrylamide and DADMAC
3. Nonionic flocculants Over 10,00,000 Powder or emulsions
Polyacrylamides
4. Anionic flocculants Over 10,00,000 Powder or emulsions
Polyacrylates
Conclusion
 The destabilization stage is Coagulation (Charge neutralization)
 The floc-building stage is flocculation.
 For colloids in natural water sources in a pH range of 5 to 8, the Zeta potential is
generally -14 to -30 mV; the more negative the number the stronger the particle
charge.
 If too much coagulant is added, the particle surface will become positively charged
(a positive zeta potential), and the particle will be redispersed
 There is an ideal range of pH for each of the compounds
for Aluminium salts : 6.0 to 7.4
for Iron salts : 4.0 to 11.0
 The voluminous sludge produced by the addition of metal coagulants create
disposal problems because they are usually difficult to dewater.
 This is why aluminium and Iron salts are not often used to improve efficiency of
centrifuges, filter presses and other dewatering devices.
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FUNDAMENTALS OF FLOCCULATION AND

 The higher the mineral content of the water, the higher

Particle Size vs. Settling rate Table

*Assuming specific gravity of 2.65 (Silica)

 The floc formed by agglomeration of several colloids may not

Left fig. shows addition of coagulant and charge neutralization

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