Pilot Plant Tube Flocculator
Overview
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The tube flocculator at the Pilot plant will be used to test the effects of raw water on floc formation and settling velocity. Similar experiments have been conducted in the laboratory. The tube flocculator is a long narrow tube coiled as in a figure eight formation. Alum is added as a coagulant in the flocculator. The positively charged alum particles promote floc formation. Flocs collide because of energy dissipation in the long narrow tubing. Large dense flocs settle out faster in sedimentation. Research has been done in the lab to determine optimal tube flocculator configuration to produce the largest settling velocities.
The previous lab experiments have examined flocculation with mixtures of water and clay. The chemistry of raw water is much more complex than this. Results from the lab experiments may not accurately represent flocculation involving raw water. For example, raw water contains humic acids dissolved from soils. Humic acids are large negatively charged organic particles. They bind to positively charged alum particles and may absorb more alum than the lab flocculator. The goal of tube flocculator is to compare data from the Pilot Plant to lab experiments and confirm the adequacy of the lab data to model the behavior of raw water.