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The hypothesis that absorbed air would be released in the apparatus was qualitatively observed by bubble formation. The adverse effects of bubble formation on floc blanket formation and effluent turbidity were supported qualitatively by the appearance of floc particles in the sedimentation tank effluent. Although it did not appear that the floc particles were attached to the air bubbles, it is likely It is possible that these air bubbles caused some of the flocs to break up. (Were the floc particles attached to air bubbles? Unclear what you mean here) Also, large particles were sparse in the sedimentation columnIn addition, it is likely that these air bubbles disrupted the velocity flow fields in the tube settler.
Quantitatively, data collected over twenty four hours showed an increase in effluent turbidity when comparing the experiment run with saturated air to the control experiment. We ran this experiment on both high and low floc blanket formation. In the high floc blanket formation state the floc blanket level is above the plate settlers. In the low floc blanket formation the floc blanket formation level is below the plate settlers. The presence of air bubbles could break up some floc particles and force floc particles up into the clarified effluent. Floc particles attached to air bubbles could potentially travel through the tube settler when they would normally settle out.
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