Study on pore characteristic of silt floc based on SEM image

The research on dredged silt treatment has been an important topic with the deteriorated environment of lakes and rivers. The pores have great influence on the property of silt flocs. In this paper, some useful pore characteristic was obtained based on SEM image both under natural condition and the state after adding flocculant. The minimum diameter, maximum diameter and mean diameter of pores in silt floc were investigated by image pro plus 6.0. We get that the silt floc pores belong to capillary pore. But the changed pore diameter is responsible for the dosage and type of flocculating agent. The distributions of logarithmic pore size are well fitted with SGompertz curve under different conditions and the fitting formulae are presented. Finally, some possible explanations are given from the perspective of flocculation mechanisms. The results can be useful for further research so as to provide a theoretical foundation for silt treatment.