Experimental investigation and modelling the effect of humic acid on coagulation efficiency for sludge blanket clarifier. (March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Saxena, Kanika; Brighu, Urmila; Choudhary, Aditya
• Is Part Of: Chemosphere. Volume 266(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Subjects: Sludge blanket clarifier -- Flocculation modelling -- Hydraulic flocculators -- Enhanced coagulation -- NOM removal -- PACl; Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Physiological effect -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Atmospheric chemistry -- Periodicals; 551.511
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.128958
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0045-6535

Abstract

Abstract: The physicochemical process of coagulation has largely been used for turbidity removal for water treatment. However, lately, the intrusion of NOM (Natural organic matter) in the surface water sources due to climate change has impeded the dosing approaches and has presented a requirement to evaluate the effect of NOM on turbidity removal efficiency and the performance of coagulation reactors in general. In this work, a previously developed performance model for hydraulic flocculators was modified and tested for a sludge blanket clarifier (SBC) which is a type of hydraulic flocculator. The experimental runs were conducted by preparing synthetic sample waters by using humic acid (for NOM) and kaolin clay (for turbidity). PACl (Poly aluminium chloride) was used as a coagulant. The expression of attachment efficiency has been modified to include the interactions of humic acid (HA) and kaolin, which were not previously accounted for in the model. The coverage functions were used to calculate the attachment efficiency of HA-PACl and PACl-Clay. The standalone coverage function ГPACl-HA efficiently predicted the doses where the removal efficiency was maximum. However, the coverage function ГClay-PACl was impacted by the hydrodynamic conditions in SBC and over-speculated the Clay-PACl interactions. The RMSE value was low for the modified equation indicating that in SBC the interactions between the organic and inorganic impurities are significant. The HA-Kaolin interactions were found to be significant in the modified model in case of a low HA range of 4 and 8 mg/L of HA. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: Modified model fitted better showing that humic acid and clay particles interact. Interactions between like-sized particles are lesser impacted by hydrodynamics. Electrostatic interactions are dominant when the particle concentration is low. Interactions between hetero-dispersed impurities improve coagulation. Microscopic and macroscopic effects of flocculation are important for modelling.