• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.153-162
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• 2021

The effects of activated carbon originated Ballasted Flocculant (BF) on the settleability of activated sludge and the recovery of BF by Hydro-cyclone (HC) were analyzed experimentally. Two kinds of BF (M-I: 125-250 ㎛, M-II: 250-425 ㎛ in dia.) and three kinds of activated sludges with different SS concentration (2,300-7,100 mg/L) were applied for this study. With the dosage variation of BF from 0.14 to 1.3 g-BF/g-SS, we could obtain 24-31% improvement in SV30 (Sludge Volume after 30min sedimentation) for the lowest SS concentration sludge (2,300 mg/L). Whereas the SV30 improvement was much higher as 44-48% for the highest SS concentration sludge (7,100 mg/L). The settling characteristics of the sludge with BF followed Vesilind model the best among three models (Vesilind, Takacs and Cho model). HC could effectively separate BF with the separation efficiency of 70-90% and over 95% separation efficiency could be obtained when the HC was applied twice.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.277-284
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• 2021

The ballasted flocculation effects of the mill scale and magnetite on activated sludge were investigated. Both ballasted flocculants (BF) could remarkably improve the sludge settleability in terms of zone settling velocity (ZSV) and sludge volume index (SVI). With the BF dosage of 0.2 to 2.0 g-BF/g-SS, the magnetite particles showed better efficiency on improving settling behavior of activated sludge than the mill scale due to higher surface area and hydrophobic property. The efficiency of SVI₃₀ with magnetite injection was 2.5 to 11.3% higher than mill scale injection and that of the ZSV appreciated from 23.7% to 44.4% for magnetite injection. Averaged floc size of the BF sludge with magnetite dosage (0.5 g-BF/g-SS) was 2.3 times higher than that of the control sludge. Dewaterability of the sludge was also greatly improved by addition of the BF. The specific resistance to filtration (SRF) was reduced exponentially with increasing the dosage of BF. However, the BF's particle size effect on the SRF looks to be marginal. Consequently, for improving the dewaterability, the BF played a physical role to remove the pore water of the biological flocs by intrusive attachment and a chemical role to induce aggregation of the flocs by charge neutralization.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.485-493
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• 2010

Chemical coagulation destabilizes colloidal particles so that particles grow to larger flocs. Solid particles are then removed by solid-liquid separation after typical precipitation. Rapid precipitation enhances the separation by reducing the precipitation time with larger and denser particles. Conventionally, polyelectolyte compounds (polymers) function as a flocculant aid by introducing a interparticle binding, which increases the particle size and density. And more recent ballasted flocculation adds a ballasting agent (microsand) to form denser particles with its high-density(sp gr=2.65). The current research was to evaluate the manner in which ballasted flocs are formed under different injection timings of microsand and to recognize the effects on floc formation. $FeCl_3$ as a coagulant, anionic polymer for a flocculation aid and microsand were used for the floc formation. Floc size (diameter) was widely ranged with the highest mean value when microsand was injected between $FeCl_3$ and polymer. Mean floc density was larger when the floc formed smaller. Settling velocity increased with larger floc size, whilst not significantly affected by the timing of microsand injection. The additional slow mixing on floc formation increased floc size to some extent.