D

Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering A 1 (2012) 898-903

Formerly part of Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering, ISSN 1934-8932

DAVID

PUBLISHING

Evaluation of Mixing Efficiency in

Coagulation-Flocculation Process
in Wastewater Treatment
Tams Karches
Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), Budapest
H-1111, Hungary
Received: June 12, 2012 / Accepted: July 9, 2012 / Published: July 20, 2012.
Abstract: Fluid flow and mixing phenomenon have a significant impact on coagulation and flocculation processes. Particles
dissipating the turbulent kinetic energy increase the efficiency of collision, grow in size and incorporate phosphate from the wastewater.
Only certain flocks can be separated depending on their stability, size, density, etc.. According to the literature the velocity gradient of
the flow (G-value) is the main design parameter of the flocculators, but there is a need to take into account at least the flocks age, too. In
this paper, it presents a novel approach to determine the efficiency of flocculators using local mean age theory, residence time
distribution and dimensional analysis. Calculations were performed for two constructions of cascade reactorsone with small baffles
and one without these; hydraulical performance and the achievable conversion were compared. As a result, the flocculator with small
baffles proved to be more efficient than the traditional construction.
Key words: Flocculation kinetics, fluid dynamics, G-value, local mean age, wastewater treatment.

1. Introduction
Eutrophication has a major impact on the usage of
water. To hinder the increase of trophity in surface
waters, it is essential to apply an efficient phosphorous
removal in wastewater treatment [1]. Phosphorous can
be incorporated into biological or chemical precipitates.
The latter one process means that multivalent metal
ions are used in order to destabilize the negatively
charged particles (coagulation) and to grow the size of
the flocks through collision of particles (flocculation).
The flocculation can take place under natural
circumstances (perikinetic flocculation) or the particles
dissipate the mixing energy (orthokinetic flocculation)
[2].
The efficiency of coagulation-flocculation (and
therefore the P removal) depends on many factors: the
Corresponding author: Tams Karches, Ph.D. candidate,
main research fields: pollutant transport and fluid dynamics.
E-mail: karches@vkkt.bme.hu.

type and the amount of the coagulant, pH, compounds

of the wastewater, mixing intensity, contact time for
the reaction, age of the flocks, etc.. In this paper the
importance of the mixing phenomena is highlighted,
which can be analyzed with the tool of CFD
(computational fluid dynamics).
Design of the flocculators is based on geometrical
ratios and the so-called G-value, which represents the
energy dissipated by the flocks. It can be derived from
the velocity gradient [3] and can be calculated as
follows:

or G
V

where,
G is the velocity gradient (1/s);
P is the energy input (kgm2/s3);
is the dynamic viscosity (kg/ms);
V is the volume of the flocculator (m3);
is the density of the fluid (kg/m3);

(1)

Evaluation of Mixing Efficiency in Coagulation-Flocculation Process in Wastewater Treatment

is the turbulent energy dissipation (m2/s3).

It is demonstrated that significant inhomogenities
may happen in G-value within the tanks, therefore, an
average value is insufficient for designing the
flocculators [4]. With CFD analysis, it is able to
determine the flow field and turbulence parameters for
each simulation point, so the distribution of the
G-value can be calculated (using Eq. (1)). Furthermore,
from the G-value the stable floc size can be determined
with Eq. (2) [5]:

d C G

(2)

where,
d is the diameter of the stable flocks (m);
C is the flock strength coefficient, which is in a range
of 1.5-1.9 using ferric-hydroxide coagulant [6];
is the floc size exponent, which has a value of
0.43-0.49 [6].
According to the theory of ASF (active site factor)
presented by Takcs [7], the dynamics of the flocks
would be solved if the ASF was well defined with the
function of the G-value and the age of the flocks. Le
Moullec et al. [8] determined a mass transfer
coefficient for a three-phase kinetics model in
wastewater treatment in order to describe interphase
mass changes.
The aim is to analyze the efficiency of flocculators
due to mixing conditions using local mean age theory
and the results of the above mentioned literature. CFD
technique and mass transport model are described in
Section 2, case study and its results are presented in
Section 3, which is followed by the conclusions in
Section 4.

2. Methodology
In order to describe the effect of the mixing on
coagulation and flocculation, CFD and biokinetic
model is coupled. First dimensional analysis was
carried out to investigate the relative importance of
different terms of the governing equation and to see the
terms, which has the major impact on the whole
phenomena and then orthokinetic flocculation was

899

solved with different kind of reactor models.

2.1 Fluid Dynamics
CFD is based on the solution of continuity,
Navier-Stokes (in other words: momentun) equations
[9, 10]. Navier-Stokes equation can transform into a
dimensionless form, if the variables of the equation (u:
velocity (m/s), p: pressure (Pa), t: time (s) and x, y, z:
spatial coordinates) are divided by the representative
values (average velocity, time, reference pressure).
Variables with asterix are dimensionless.
u
1 *2 * (3)
*
*
u * u Eu * p
u
t *
Re
The first term of the equation represents the local

changes, the second is the convection. On the right side,

there is a summation of body forces (pressure and shear
stress) assuming that there is no external force. The
weight of the terms is represented by dimensionless
numbers; Eu (Euler number) shows the ratio of the
pressure force and inertial force, Reynolds number is a
ratio of the inertial and viscous force. According to Eq.
(3), if for example an impeller causes high pressure
difference, the Eu number has a dominance over the
other terms of the equation or if the flow is laminar (Re
is small), the shear forces can not be neglected.
Following the procedure of dimensional analysis, the
mass transport equation, assuming first order reaction
kinetics, can be transformed into this form:

1 *2 *
c*
*
u *c*
c Da c*
t *
Pe

(4)

where,
c is concentration (g/m3);
Pe is Peclet number [-], which is the ratio of
convection and diffusion;
Da is Damkhler number [-], which is the ratio of the
reaction kinetics and convection.
Coupling the CFD and biokinetic approches means
that the flow field from Eq. (3) and kinetic model
(presented in next sub-section) are linked in Eq. (4).
2.2 Orthokinetic Flocculation
The basis to determine the Da number is the

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Evaluation of Mixing Efficiency in Coagulation-Flocculation Process in Wastewater Treatment

Schmoluchowki formula [11], which describes the

kinetics of flocculation process driven by turbulent
energy dissipation as follows:

dn 8 n cv G

dt

(5)

where, is the collision efficiency [-], n is the total

number of particles per unit volume of fluid [1/m3], cv
is the volumetric concentration of spherical particles [-].
Solving Eq. (5) Damkhler number can be defined:

Da k cv G t

* *
* u t *
t 1
SC

(7)

where, SC is Schmidt number, which represents the

ratio of mass transfer and momentum transport in
laminar flow.

(6)

where, k is the flocculation kinetic constant [-], which

is in the range of 0.098-0.22 according to Zhang et al.
[12], or if the results of van de Ven and Mason [13] are
used, then it is in the range of 0.08-0.26 for the flock
size particles.
2.3 Efficiency of Flocculators
Two phenomena could deteriorate the efficiency of
flocculators: (i) the residence time and mixing
conditions are not sufficient or (ii) the coagulation
process is inadequate. The latter one process is
supposed to take place in a few moments if there is a
possibility to meet the particles with the coagulants,
and at least G = 1,500 1/s is ensured [7]. At a given pH,
the amount of hydrolysis product can be calculated [14].
After destabilization of particles, they must collide to
grow their size, which requires slow mixing not to
break the flocks (G = 20-80 1/s) for about 15 minutes.
If dead-zones or hydraulical short-circuits are
developed in the flocculator, then the age of flock is not
sufficient. The method of determination of RTD

Fig. 1 Geometry of the baffled flocculator.

(residence time distribution) is described in a previous

work [15]. LMA (local mean age) of flocs can be
calculated using the mass transport equation assuming
zero order reaction kinetics.

3. Model Analysis and Calculation Results

The method was applied for two kinds of baffled
reactor with Q = 0.34 m3/s discharge. The only
difference in the two geometries is the presence or
absence of the small baffles as Fig. 1 shows.
The baffles absorb the energy and increase the
turbulence intensity. The inflow velocity is 0.243 m/s,
the volume of the reactor is 218 m3, the theoretical
residence time is 620 s. 120,000 tetrahedral elements
were used for discretisation with the maximum
skewness of 0.65. Inflow boundary was mass flow inlet,
the surface was a no-slip wall and pressure outlet was
set for the outflow boundary. The CFD calculations
were performed using Ansys Fluent software.
Evaluation of the steady-state flow field revealed
that five significant dead-zones appeared in the system
reducing the effective volume of the reactor as Fig. 2
shows. Therefore, high percentage of the water flows
through the system faster as the theoretical approach
describes. The residence time is 310 s if small baffles
are used and it is 290 s without baffles.

Evaluation of Mixing Efficiency in Coagulation-Flocculation Process in Wastewater Treatment

901

average in the case of the baffled reactor.

From the dimensionless mass transport equation, the
diffusion (1/Pe) and reaction rates (Da) are evenly one
Residence time distribution of the flocculator
0.0025
E(t) no baffle

E(t)

0.002

E(t) with baffles

0.0015
-]

0.001

Fig. 2 Velocity contours at z = 1.5 m section in m/s. Some

pathlines reveal the dead-zones and the main flow direction.

0.0005

RTD analysis was performed to determine the

average residence time for the whole tank reactor. The
results can be seen in Fig. 3.
The average residence time for the baffled reactor is
597 s, the standard deviation is 437 s, the Peclet
number is 3.72. For the tank without baffles these
values are the following: 650 s, 454 s, 4.10. There is a
difference between the average residence time
calculated by RTD method and average water age
measured at the outlet section.
The explanation is that RTD calculates the average
value including the effect of the dead-zones, whereas the
water age approach takes into account only the particles
of the main flow. To determine the G value, the Eq. (1)
was used and the results can be seen in Fig. 4 in two
cases. The turbulent dissipation is increased locally
using baffles, therefore, the G-value will be higher,
which is favourable for growing the flock size. In
addition, using baffles the G-value is increased not
only in the immediate vicinity of the wall boundaries,
but it also affects the other part of the tank. If more
baffles were applied, the G-value would be higher than
100 1/s, which may cause the breakage of the flocks.
In these constructions the G > 100 1/s condition is
not relevant, therefore, the effective volume of the
flocculator is given by substracting the zones with high
water age from the total volume. Applying Eq. (6), the
Damkhler number can be determined for iron-oxide
flocks in the effective volume of the tank; the
distribution of Da is shown in Fig. 5. Da is higher on

500

1000

1500

2000

time (s)

Fig. 3 RTD analysis of flocculator with and without baffles,

E(t) is the derivative of the volume fraction of the tracer.

Fig. 4 G-value (1/s) in the flocculator with (up) and without

(down) baffles.

Fig. 5 Damkhler number in the effective volume of the

reactors, with baffles (up) and without baffles (down).

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Evaluation of Mixing Efficiency in Coagulation-Flocculation Process in Wastewater Treatment

Table 1 Conversion calculation for the flocculators using

different reactor models. CSTR (completely stirred tank
reactor), PFR (plug flow reactor).
Conversion

With baffles

Without baffles

Pe

3.72

4.1

Da

0.23

0.2

CSTR

0.187

0.167

PFR

0.205

0.181

Cascade

0.195

0.174

Diffusive

0.198

0.176

No dead-zones

0.39

0.35

fifth of the convection term. It is not surprising,

because these tanks are through-flow reactors, which
means a relative high convective transport compared to
diffusion. The interesting outcome of this calculation is
that the diffusion and reaction rates have the same
importance.

dimensionless numbers derived from the mass

transport equation. One is Damkhler number, which
represents the rate of the reaction kinetic and
convection term, the other is Peclet number, which is
the rate of convection and diffusion. The calculation
revealed the importance of the reaction and diffusion
more or less the same for cascade reactors, which is one
fifth compared to the convection. When applying
different reactor conversion models, the results do not
show significant differences. The flocculator with
small baffles performs better (conversion is 20%) than
the flocculator without baffles (conversion is 17%).

Acknowledgments

in ideal reactor (CSTR (completely stirred tank reactor),

This work is connected to the scientific program of

Development of quality-oriented and harmonized R +
D + I strategy and functional model at BME project.
This project is supported by the New Szchenyi Plan.

PFR (plug flow reactor) [16]), Da and Pe numbers in

References

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[1]

results of the conversion calculation; the different

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[2]

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[3]

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[4]

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4. Conclusion
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