Flocculation performance of different polyacrylamide and the relation between optimal dose and critical concentration

Flocculation performance of four kinds of polyacrylamide (PAM) with different chain end group, namely, PAM, star-PAM, PGS-PAM and Al(OH)3-PAM hybrids, in Kaolin suspensions have been investigated by Spectrophotometer. It was found that their flocculation efficiency deceases in the order: PGS-PAM > Al(OH)3-PAM ≈ star-PAM > PAM. It was also found that the optimal dose (Cod) of the polymer flocculant in flocculation process is proportional to the critical concentration (C∗) of polymer flocculant in solution and to the suspension solid content (Css) in Kaolin suspensions.