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Depth filtration likely occurs when the fluid forces on the flocs that bridge across a pore in the filter bed exceed the strength of the flocs. Thus the dimensionless parameter that determines whether depth or surface filtration occurs must include both floc strength and pressure drop through a thin layer of flocs. Pressure drop through a thin layer of flocs is influenced by the porosity of the flocs which is a function of their fractal dimension. Small flocs are less porous than large flocs and thus small flocs are less likely to produce surface filtration.
The laboratory research goals of this research are to determine the difference in head loss and particle capture efficiency between conventional rapid sand filtration where raw water is added above the filter bed and SRSF where the water is injected into the filter bed through slotted pipes.
Set In our research, we set up two filters in parallel that both receive received the same raw water but with one filter operating as a conventional rapid sand filter and the other filter having the raw water injected below the surface of the sand. We measured both head loss and the effluent turbidity of each filter column as a function of time. We ran different tests at varying levels of influent turbidity, filter velocity, and coagulant dosage to see if any of these parameters significantly affected the head loss or effluent turbidity. In each experiment we also noted any differences between the appearances of the two columns which indicated differences in the location of particle capture.
Our data suggested that there was no significant difference in the measured effluent turbidities of the two filters. Both filters also show linear relationships in measured head loss over time. However, one advantage we found to using the SRSF design is that the head loss increases at a slightly slower rate over time than the normal surface filter. We also noted that at a higher filter velocity, the surface filter did not show hardly any particle build-up on the surface of the sand column, which suggests that velocity is a determining factor in whether or not depth filtration occurs.
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