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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 shear,G, in the long narrow tubing. The amount of mixing, Gtheta, that flocs are subjected to is a function of the shear and residence time in the flocculator. Large dense flocs settle out faster in sedimentation. Research has been done in the lab to determine G and Gtheta values that 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 this semesters research is to compare data from the Pilot Plant to lab experiments. The data should show the adequacy of the lab data to model the behavior of raw water.

Methods and Results

[Settling Velocity in the Tube Flocculator]

Research will be conducted to measure the settling velocity in the tube flocculator.

Construction History

Construction History

Flocculator Maintenance

[Flocculator Maintenance]

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