Flocculation kinetics mechanism and floc formation prepared by poly aluminum chloride coupled with polyacrylamide for ship ballast water

Abstract

The performance of flocculants prepared by poly aluminum chloride (PAC) and polyacrylamide (PAM) on treating ballast water collected at the Dalian new port area, the evaluation depending on the values of reaction parameters, and kinetics mechanism of flocculation were investigated in this study. Accordingly, the flocculants of 0.1 g·L−1, prepared by mixing PAC of 10% with PAM of 2.0‰, enabled the removal rate of zooplankton and phytoplankton to reach 91% in ballast water at 20 °C. Based on flocculation kinetics mechanism analysis, the efficient vortex size during stirring should be larger than the floc particles, and gradient of fluctuating velocity provide the impetus for turbulence flocculation. The results of this study could be relevant to understanding particle–floc interactions during developmental flocculation, and during application of ballast water treatment.