Comparison of Flocculation Characteristics of Humic Acid by Inorganic and Organic Coagulants: Effects of pH and Ionic Strength

Abstract

The effects of pH (5, 7 and 9) and ionic strength of different salts on the flocculation characteristics of humic acid by inorganic (alum, polyaluminum chloride (PAC) with degree of neutralization, r=(OH/Al) of 1.7) and organic (cationic polyelectrolyte) coagulants, have been examined using a simple continuous optical technique, coupled with measurements of zeta potential. The results are compared mainly by the mechanisms of its destabilization and subsequent removal. The destabilization and subsequent removal of humic acid by PAC and cationic polyelectrolyte occur by a simple charge neutralization, regardless of pH of the solution. However, the mechanism of those by alum is greatly dependent on pH and coagulant dosage, i.e., both mechanisms of charge neutralization at lower dosages and sweep flocculation at higher dosages at pH 5, by sweep flocculation mechanism at pH 7, and little flocculation because of electrostatic repulsion between negatively charged humic acid and aluminum species at pH 9. The ionic strength also affects those greatly, mainly based on the charge of salts, and so is more evident for the salts of highly charged cationic species, such as and However, it is found that the salts have no effect on those at the optimum dosage for alum acting by the mechanism of sweep flocculation at pH 7, regardless of their charge.