Further investigation of the irreversible floc breakup in flocculation kinetics modelling

Abstract Recent research has shown that the equilibrium between aggregation and breakup in flocculation kinetics modelling might not hold due to irreversible floc breakup. This work investigated influence of coagulant/particle ratio average velocity gradient () occurrence this phenomenon with a different water matrix than previous research. Jar test assays were conducted low (≈15 NTU), medium (≈50 NTU) high (≈100 turbidity synthetic raw water, using alum as coagulant kaolin primary particles. Results analyzed Argaman Kaufman's model values for KA (aggregation constant) KB (breakup coefficient) determined Evolutionary convergence method. Model fitting was satisfactory when Al/particle varied 10 27 mg Al3+/g. Outside range, residual increased after equilibrium, attributed process adequately described by model. A two-factor analysis variance (ANOVA) conducted, results indicated plausible correlation pKA (–log KA) ratio. As pKB KB), possible both . suggests occur regardless composition.