Influence of type and dose of coagulants on effectiveness of PAH removal in coagulation water treatment

This study evaluated the influence of the type and dose of coagulants on the removal of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the coagulation process. The effects of coagulant type and dose in reducing water turbidity, colour, and the total content of organic compounds were also assessed. The surface water samples had the turbidity of 9.3–11.2 NTU and colour of 25–35 mg/L. The content of organic compounds determined with total organic carbon (TOC) was 9.2–12.5 mg/L. For the coagulation process, pre-hydrolyzed polyaluminium chloride (PACl) coagulants with basicity values of 41%, 65%, and 85% were used. This shows that water purification performance increased as the basicity of the coagulant increased. When the coagulant with the highest basicity and a dose of 3 mg Al per litre was used, a removal efficiency of 83% in the concentration of benzo(a)pyrene was achieved, and efficiencies for the remaining 15 PAHs ranged from 80% to 91%. These values were 4%–9% higher than those achieved using other coagulants. The removal efficiencies of turbidity, colour, and TOC were 80%, 60%, and 35%, respectively. The water purification performance, including PAH removal, was improved with the increased coagulant dose. Increasing the coagulant dose had more pronounced effects on PAH removal than on the reduction of turbidity and TOC.     

Analysing mass balance of viruses in a coagulation-ceramic microfiltration hybrid system by a combination of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and the plaque forming units (PFU) method.

Virus removal experiments using river water spiked with bacteriophages were conducted by an in-line coagulation-ceramic microfiltration hybrid system to investigate the effects of filtration flux (62.5 and 125 L/(m2 x h)) and type of virus (Qbeta and MS2) on virus removal. In addition, the mass balance of viruses through the hybrid system was analysed by quantifying the infectious and inactive viruses by a combination of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and the plaque forming units (PFU) method. Even when the system was operated at high filtration flux (125 L/(m2 x h)), high virus removal (> 6 log) with short coagulation time (2.4 s) was successfully achieved by dosing polyaluminium chloride (PACI) at more than 1.08 mg-Al/L. Removal performances were different between Qbeta and MS2, although their diameters are almost the same: greater virus removal was achieved for MS2 at PACI dosing of 0.54 mg-Al/L, and for Qbeta at PACI dosing of more than 1.08 mg-Al/L. The combination of the PCR and PFU methods revealed that two phenomena, adsorption to/entrapment in aluminium floc and virucidal activity of PACI, partially account for the high virus removal in the coagulation-MF hybrid system.     

Colloidal silica removal in coagulation processes for wastewater reuse in a high-tech industrial park.

Four experiments of coagulation and flocculation were conducted to investigate the characteristics of colloidal silica removal in a high-tech industrial wastewater treatment plant for reclamation and reuse of the effluent. Experimental results illustrated that poly-aluminium chloride (PACl) showed higher performances on colloidal silica removal than alum. Interestingly, the two coagulants demonstrated the same capacity on silica removal. The specific silica removal capacity was approximately 0.135 mg SiO2/mg Al2O3 when the dosage of coagulants was in the range 30-150 mg/L Al2O3. In addition, the silica was reduced significantly at the condition of pH above 8. Experimental data implied that precipitation of aluminium flocs was the major mechanism for colloid silica removal in PACl and alum coagulation, besides, charge adsorption was also important for improving removal efficiency. Moreover, the addition of polyacrylic acid (PAA) as a flocculant could slightly advance silica removal in the PACl coagulation. The combined PACl/PAA/flocs coagulation was effective for the removal of colloidal silica, soluble COD, and turbidity and also suitable as a pretreatment unit in wastewater reclamation and reuse processes.     

The transformation of aluminium species in the processes of coagulation, sedimentation and filtration.

The aluminium toxicity is closely related to aluminium species. In this work aluminium was fractionated into seven forms: Al(T), Al(Sus), Al(C + S), Al(S), Al(C), Al(O) and Al(I). Four Al-based coagulants and simulated raw water were used in the laboratory to investigate the aluminium transformation in coagulation, sedimentation and filtration processes. It is the use of Al-based coagulants that contributes more to the increase of the residual aluminium for the low-turbidity raw water, while the Al-based coagulants, especially the polymeric aluminium coagulants, work to remove the aluminium from the high-turbidity raw water. In the case of traditional coagulants, the increase of the turbidity or the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration in the raw water results in a high concentration of Al(C + S). The removal rate of aluminium species in the filtration process is not only related to its size: RAl(Sus) > RAl(C+S), RAl(C) > RAl(S), but also to the physicochemical properties of aluminium species and filter. For the kaolin-polyaluminium chloride system, a lower removal rate of aluminium species results is due to the complexation of humic acid and aluminium species.     

Detection of infectious pathogenic viruses in water and wastewater samples from urbanised areas.

Regardless of the remarkable improvement in sanitary conditions in urbanised areas, infectious diseases caused by pathogenic viruses in water have been reported year after year. The actual situation for the behaviour of pathogenic viruses in urbanised society should be understood. In this study, infectious enteroviruses and adenoviruses in water and wastewater samples from urbanised areas were investigated. Infectious enteroviruses were continuously detected from sewage and sewage sludge during the summer season. The detection of infectious viruses in sewage and sewage sludge was facilitated by the enzymatic virus elution (EVE) method. The concentration of infectious enteroviruses in positive samples of sewage and sewage sludge was >400 virions/L. Infectious viruses were also detected from water samples at levels >4 virions/L.     

Optimizing the coagulation process in a drinking water treatment plant -- comparison between traditional and statistical experimental design jar tests

In this study of coagulation operation, a comparison was made between the optimum jar test values for pH, coagulant and coagulant aid obtained from traditional methods (an adjusted one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) method) and with central composite design (the standard design of response surface methodology (RSM)). Alum (coagulant) and polymer (coagulant aid) were used to treat a water source with very low pH and high aluminium concentration at Sri-Gading water treatment plant (WTP) Malaysia. The optimum conditions for these factors were chosen when the final turbidity, pH after coagulation and residual aluminium were within 0-5 NTU, 6.5-7.5 and 0-0.20 mg/l respectively. Traditional and RSM jar tests were conducted to find their respective optimum coagulation conditions. It was observed that the optimum dose for alum obtained through the traditional method was 12 mg/l, while the value for polymer was set constant at 0.020 mg/l. Through RSM optimization, the optimum dose for alum was 7 mg/l and for polymer was 0.004 mg/l. Optimum pH for the coagulation operation obtained through traditional methods and RSM was 7.6. The final turbidity, pH after coagulation and residual aluminium recorded were all within acceptable limits. The RSM method was demonstrated to be an appropriate approach for the optimization and was validated by a further test.     

Application of chemical precipitation for piggery wastewater treatment.

Several series of experiments were conducted to investigate the treatment of piggery wastewater using chemical precipitation (CP) where various types of coagulants such as aluminium sulfate (Al2(SO4)3), poly aluminium chloride (PAC), ferric chloride (FeCl3), ferric sulfate (Fe2(SO4)3), ferrous sulfate (FeSO4) and ferrous chloride (FeCl2) were used. Throughout the experiments, CP was found to achieve high removal efficiencies for organic compounds and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) from the piggery wastewater. Experimental results showed the optimal doses of FeCl3, Fe2(SO4)3, FeCl2 and FeSO4 was 2.0 g/L, while 0.31 g/L and 2.5 g/L were the optimum dose for PAC and Al2(SO4)3, respectively. The pH range 4-5 resulted in the best performance to all coagulants except FeCl2 and FeSO4, whose optimum pH were more than 6. Percentage removal efficiencies for COD were in the ranges of 70-80%, 90-95% for SS, 80-90% for organic-N and TP. Those removal efficiencies were achieved within 5 min of operation. Three times of repetition in CP resulted in higher removal efficiencies for COD, SS and colour up to 74%, 99% and 94% respectively, in which Al2(SO4)3 was used as the coagulant. Removal efficiencies of various water quality parameters in a continuously operated reactor were similar to those of the batch experiments. Biodegradable ratios (BOD5/COD) increased up to 65% after the application of CP.     

强化混凝技术处理南淝河污染水的效果

选用聚合氯化铁(PFC)、聚合硫酸铁(PFS)、聚合氯化铝(PAC)和聚合氯化铝铁(PAFC)作为混凝剂;选用阳离子型聚丙烯酰胺(CPAM)、阴离子型聚丙烯酰胺(APAM)和非离子型聚丙烯酰胺(NPAM)作为助凝剂,通过室内试验对比研究强化混凝技术中多种混凝剂单用及其和助凝剂联用对南淝河污染水的除浊和去污效果,并用于南淝河现场构建的混凝沉淀系统。结果表明,4种混凝剂单用时,PAFC对浊度、TP去除效果最优,对CODMn有良好的去除效果,且不影响原水的p H值,而PFC和PFS单用时可明显降低原水p H值,4种混凝剂单用时对TN均没有明显去除效果;PAFC与CPAM联用时对浊度的去除效果最佳,明显优于PAFC与APAM和NPAM联用和PAFC单用的效果;混凝剂与CPAM联用提高了其除浊和去除TP的能力,但不能明显改善其去除CODMn的效果,对原水p H和TN的影响与单用时相同。选取"PAFC+CPAM"作为南淝河示范工程的混凝剂和助凝剂,现场混凝沉淀出水水质稳定,浊度和TP的去除效果较好,去除率分别达到90%和80%,对CODMn的去除率约为52%,而对TN的去除效果有限,去除率约为22.4%。     

Particle size distribution as a useful tool for microbial detection.

Worldwide, raw or treated wastewater is used for irrigation. However, this practice implies that the microbial content must be controlled. Unfortunately, detection techniques for microorganisms are costly, time consuming, and require highly trained personnel. For these reasons, this study used particle size distribution to measure the microbial quality of wastewater through correlations between the number or volume of particles and the concentration of fecal coliforms, Salmonella spp. and helminth ova. Such correlations were obtained for both raw and chemically treated wastewater. The best fit was the one for helminth ova, which applies for both the influent and effluent and also for all the coagulants involved. This technique allows the on-line quantification of helminth ova at a cost of US$3 and it takes only 5 minutes, instead of the US$70 and 5 days for the standard technique. With respect to the coagulants applied, their behavior is different only for particles smaller than 8 microm, and thus this value is considered as the critical size for this particular treatment. The best coagulant was the aluminium polychloride. In addition, this work establishes the distribution of COD, TSS, nitrogen, and phosphorous for particles smaller and larger than 20 microm.     

Electrogeneration of aluminium to remove silica in water

This paper presents the results of a study on electrogeneration of aluminium, as a coagulant to remove silica in make-up water for cooling towers. Three electrochemical systems were tested, two with aluminium electrodes (one with polarity change and another without it), and a third one with aluminium anodes and cathodes of stainless steel. From the obtained results it was concluded that under the studied conditions, the most advantageous system to produce aluminium and remove silica is the one with both electrodes of aluminium working with direct current. Due to chemical production of aluminium at the cathode, the concentration of aluminium in the water at the outlet of the electrochemical reactor is much higher than the one calculated according to Faraday's law. Under the tested conditions it was possible to remove up to 66% of silica from water containing around 50 mg L(-1).     

Recycling of sludge with the Aqua Reci process.

Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO) is an innovative and effective destruction method for organics in sewage sludge. The SCWO process leaves a slurry of inorganic ash in a pure water phase free from organic contaminants, which opens possibilities for a simple process to recover components like phosphates and/or coagulants from the sewage sludge, a process marketed as the Aqua Reci. In a continuous pilot plant for the SCWO process digested sludge has been treated. The ash has been extracted in lab- and pilot scale with both caustic and acids in order to recover phosphates and coagulants. The particle size of the inorganic contaminants in the water after the SCWO process is between 1-10 microm, which means that it is very reactive. The phosphate, and partly the aluminium, can be extracted with caustic as iron and heavy metals are completely insoluble in caustic. This is a method to separate the phosphates from the rest of the contaminants. However, high calcium content will bind the phosphate as calcium phosphate insoluble in caustic. In most cases the calcium content is too high and the best solution is to dissolve phosphates and all metals with sulphuric acid. From this solution first iron phosphate can be separated and thereafter in a second step aluminium and finally heavy metals in a third step. Iron can be separated from the phosphate, either by leaching the phosphate with caustic off to sodium phosphate leaving a precipitate consisting of iron hydroxide, or the iron phosphate can be dissolved in hydrochloric acid followed by a liquid extraction process where ferric chloride can be separated leaving a phosphoric acid. By the acid dissolving process it is possible to recover phosphate, iron, aluminium, and heavy metals from the inorganic since the Aqua Reci process only leaves a silica residue representing about 10% of the DS content in the original sludge.     

Monitoring floc formation and breakage.

Monitoring of flocculation processes is of great practical importance and can give very useful information on the action of different coagulants under various conditions. It is shown that a continuous optical monitoring technique provides a convenient means of following the formation, break-up and regrowth of flocs under standard mixing and stirring conditions. Examples of results using this approach are given, with alum and PACl coagulants as well as a cationic polyelectrolyte. PACl products give larger flocs than with alum, but they show about the same relative degree of breakage when the shear rate is increased. With all of these coagulants, floc breakage is not fully reversible; i.e. flocs only re-grow to a limited extent when the shear rate is reduced. This is in marked contrast to the action of a cationic polyelectrolyte, where floc breakage is almost completely reversible. Some possible reasons for these observations are discussed, but, so far, there is no adequate model available.     

Enhancing flexible fiber filter (3FM) performance using in-line coagulation.

A new packing for deep bed filtration using Flexible Fibers has been proposed and developed on a very large scale for tertiary treatment of wastewater. The purpose of this study is to check the possibility of using this technology for the production of drinking water from surface water. In this study, the feasibility of the fiber filter application on water treatment was examined and the removal efficiency of fiber filter was improved using an in-line coagulant injection method. The experiments were carried out at pilot scale. The filter was packed with bundles of polyamide fibers with a bed porosity of 93%. Nak-dong River was used as the filter influent water and alum, PSOM, and PAC were used as the coagulants. The coagulants were injected by the in-line injection method. Small dosages (1-5 mg/L) of the polymeric coagulants (PSOM and PAC) showed an increase of removal efficiency compared to the operation without coagulants. Specifically, 1 mg/L of PAC showed the longest filtration time. Considering filtration time, filtrate quality, and filtered volume, the filtration velocity of 120 m/hr was chosen as an optimum value. For long-term operations, the effluent quality was 0.4 NTU and the removal efficiency was stable for the given optimum conditions.     

Effects of addition sequence and rapid mixing conditions on use of dual coagulants.

The performance of dual coagulants in clay suspension was investigated in this study using aluminium chloride and the cationic polymer as coagulants. According to the study results, the performance of dual coagulants was affected by dosage of aluminium chloride. Beneficial effect by use of dual coagulants were only noted when aluminium chloride was underdosed. The addition sequence of coagulants was important for the performance of dual coagulants. Simultaneous addition resulted in the best performance, while addition of the polymer first resulted in the worst performance. Addition of aluminium chloride first resulted in the similar performance as single use of aluminium chloride. Although sulphate ion improved the floc characteristics, similar results were obtained. The effectiveness of rapid mixing depended on dosage of aluminium chloride. Extending rapid mixing (6 min) was beneficial when aluminium chloride was underdosed so that coagulation occurred at the combination region. However, such benefit was not observed at the optimum condition, which belonged to the sweep coagulation region. Different floc formation caused the difference. Extended rapid mixing would be beneficial when collision between clay particles and Al(III) was necessary. However, such benefit would disappear at the optimum condition because rapid mixing could break up the floc already formed.     

常规混凝沉淀工艺对阴离子表面活性剂的去除研究

随着阴离子表面活性剂(LAS)在民用和工业上的广泛应用,由此带来的水污染问题也日益加剧,对供水安全造成了很大威胁。针对目前大部分水厂仍采用混凝沉淀常规水处理工艺,考察了常规混凝沉淀工艺对LAS的去除效果。以Al2(SO4)3,PAC,FeCl3,PFS为混凝剂,非离子PAM为助凝剂进行了试验,结果表明混凝沉淀对LAS有一定的去除效果,而且有机物和LAS的去除有一定相关关系。但浊度与LAS的去除相关性较差。试验条件下对于LAS去除最佳混凝方案是投加量为40 mg/L的FeCl3。相同水质条件下铁盐混凝剂在除浊、除有机物和除LAS方面优于铝盐混凝剂。pH和水温对LAS的去除有一定影响,较低的pH和较高的水温均有利于LAS的去除。     

Characterization of micro-flocs of NOM coagulated by PACl, alum and polysilicate-iron in terms of molecular weight and floc size.

Micro-flocs of NOM coagulated by polyaluminium chloride (PACl), alum and polysilicate-iron (PSI) were characterized by flocs size, HPSEC-based molecular weight and the captured content of coagulants-based aluminium and iron. Changes in floc composition with respect to the mass ratios of captured NOM to Al and Fe were examined. Lowering water pH to optimum levels was found to be capable of removing small NOM constituents that are generally difficult to be precipitated at neutral pH levels. For PACl and PSI, the distribution of micro flocs (0.1-5.0 microm) reached steady stage after rapid mixing for 30 seconds, with NOM being found existent within the non-coagulated fraction (d<0.1 microm) and the coagulated fraction with floc sizes above 5.0 microm (d >5.0 microm). For alum, however, the existence of NOM inside intermediate floc fractions of d = 0.1-1.0 microm, 1.0-3.0microm and 3.0-5.0 microm was confirmed.     

Monitoring of human enteric viruses and coliform bacteria in waters after urban flood in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Floodwaters in Kampung Melayu village, Jakarta, Indonesia, as well as river water and consumable water (including groundwater and tap water) samples in flooded and non-flooded areas, were quantitatively analysed to assess occurrence of viruses and total coliforms and E. coli as bacterial indicators after flooding event. High numbers of enterovirus, hepatitis A virus, norovirus (G1, G2) and adenovirus were detected at high concentration in floodwaters and waters sampled from Ciliwung River which runs across metropolitan Jakarta and is used widely for agriculture and domestic purposes by poor residents. One out of three groundwater wells in the flooded area was contaminated with all viruses tested while no viruses were found in groundwater samples in non-flooded areas and tap water samples. The results revealed that human enteric viruses, especially hepatitis A virus and adenovirus, were prevalent in Jakarta, Indonesia. This study suggested that flooding posed a higher risk of viral infection to the people through contamination of drinking water sources or direct contact with floodwaters.     

Nano silica removal from IC wastewater by pre-coagulation and microfiltration.

Microfiltration (MF) coupled with pretreatment by coagulation was adopted in the treatment of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) wastewater from IC manufacturing plants, containing high concentrations of silica. Poly-aluminium chloride (PACl) was the coagulant, while the cationic polyacrylamide (PAA) was the flocculant aid. Preliminary tests were performed with the raw CMP wastewater in order to determine the optimal coagulation condition for subsequent microfiltration. Analysis of the particle size distribution shows that nearly all silica particles were enlarged from nano scale to at least 4 microm in diameter after the pre-treatment. The pre-treated wastewater was then filtered through a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane with a pore size 0.5 microm at a constant vacuum pressure. Trace amounts of PAA in addition to the PACl coagulation can effectively increases the permeate flux.     

Temperature effects on flocculation, using different coagulants.

Temperature is known to affect flocculation and filter performance. Jar tests have been conducted in the laboratory, using a photometric dispersion analyser (PDA) to assess the effects of temperature on floc formation, breakage and reformation. Alum, ferric sulphate and three polyaluminium chloride (PACI) coagulants have been investigated for temperatures ranging between 6 and 29 degrees C for a suspension of kaolin clay in London tap water. Results confirm that floc formation is slower at lower temperatures for all coagulants. A commercial PACl product, PAX XL 19, produces the largest flocs for all temperatures; and alum the smallest. Increasing the shear rate results in floc breakage in all cases and the flocs never reform to their original size. This effect is most notable for temperatures around 15 degrees C. Breakage, in terms of floc size reduction, is greater for higher temperatures, suggesting a weaker floc. Recovery after increased shear is greater at lower temperatures implying that floc break-up is more reversible for lower temperatures.     

Optimization study of a hybrid alum coagulation-membrane filtration system for virus removal

Due to the intrinsically small sizes of enteric viruses (20-100 nm) and their relatively high resistance to most disinfectants, detection of viruses in treated drinking water is not a rare phenomenon. This study therefore evaluates various aspects involved in a hybrid alum coagulation-ultrafiltration (UF) system for virus removal. Coagulant doses (0, 1 and 10 mg Al(3+)/L) and pH conditions relevant to drinking water (pH 6-8) were investigated. With this hybrid system, removal was not attributable merely to MS2 adsorption to flocs and subsequent retention by UF membranes. MS2 removal comprises of inactivation by the effect of pH and coagulant and subsequently, rejection of virus-associated flocs by UF membrane. Coagulation with 1 mg Al(3+)/L at pH 6 and 7 resulted in an overall reduction brought about by an average of 0.62 log inactivation via the pH effect, 1.2 log inactivation by alum coagulant, and >5.4 log rejection by the 100 kDa polyethersulfone UF membrane. In contrast, negligible upstream inactivation was noted with a coagulant dose of 1 mg Al(3+)/L at pH 8, but 5.8 log rejection was attained with downstream UF filtration. By optimizing the conditions appropriate for upstream inactivation and subsequent membrane rejection, virus removal efficiencies can be enhanced.