Influence of ultrasonic conditioning of flocculant on the aggregation process in a tank with turbine mixer

Aggregation is a very widely encountered phenomenon in nature as well as in industrial processes. It plays an important role in processing of air and water, e.g. wastewater treatment plants, power plants, mining facilities. The new, cost-effective solutions are developed. Among the others modification of the flocculants by means of ultrasounds, mixtures with surfactants or polydispersive flocculant blends can be mentioned. Flocculants used in the aggregation process are long-chain polymers that can be of negative, positive or neutral charge. The aggregation caused by usage of such flocculants is the result of three different mechanisms: bridging, charge neutralization or electrostatic patch. The influence of ultrasonic field on the efficiency of different flocculants was investigated. Suspension of chalk in water was used and the measurements were taken in the laser particle sizer. The influence of the sonication time on flow curves is also presented.