Flocculation vs Coagulation
What Are Flocculation & Coagulation?
Flocculation and coagulation are similar (sometimes confused) physical (mixing) and chemical processes that take place in solution removing suspended solids.
Both involve chemically aggregating the solid particles for easier removal.
Flocculation typically follows coagulation and sometimes the term flocculation is used to mean the whole process including the preceding coagulation.
So what's the difference between the two?
Flocculation
Flocculation is clumping together of solids in solution forming "floc" or "flocculent" that floats or sinks for easy separation from the wastewater or other solution.
Coagulation
Coagulation is more of a thickening of solids in solution, especially colloidal or very small particles. This is why coagulation precedes flocculation, to thicken the solids in preparation for further clumping. Mixing is required in both processes.
Cationic coagulation is achieved by "destabilizing" the suspended particles with positively charged (cationic) particles, since the suspended solids are kept apart from each other by negative charges.
That's the essential difference, coagulation - thickening or floccing up, flocculation - bigger clumping and forming flocculent.
Water treatment plants use coagulants to facilitate the removal of very fine colloids through filtration. This is common in surface water treatment plants for domestic use.
Wastewater treatment uses both. With superior flocculation in advanced wastewater treatment many times you can eliminate coagulation altogether. This is facilitated with superior flocculants.
Superior Flocculation
The video below, you've probably seen elsewhere on the site, demonstrates how a superior flocculating agent can in many cases for wastewater treatment eliminate the need for coagulation altogether. One wastewater chemical properly dosed and mixed and the water is ready for dewatering.
The reason you can potentially eliminate several chemicals is that superior flocculating agents coagulate and flocculate through ion exchange without the addition of coagulants.
These flocculating agents contain both cationic and anionic particles suitable for chemically binding together all of the suspended solids.
The ability to achieve this coagulation/flocculation with one superior flocculant gives great advantage for increased capacity, increased compliance and increased profit potential.
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