Results and discussion - Jess

Before start running the plant, we performed a preliminary test called the Jar Test.
We conducted this experiment in order to delimit some range for our future input
concentration of coagulant. This test allowed us to establish a pattern for our plant
operation.

In table 1, you can see which were the concentrations used in the test.

Table 1 Concentration of PACl used in two runs of the Jar Test.

Preliminary Run

Concentration
(mg Al/L) 27.72 55.44 83.16 110.88 138.6

mL added 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Second Run

Concentration
(mg Al/L) 0 13.86 20.79 27.72 34.65

mL added 0 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25

This test has to be evaluated visually, i.e., we inspected which were the beakers
with the better flocs. In table 1, the concentrations that yielded to the bigger flocs
are highlighted in yellow.

Figure 1 shows the set up of the test and the resulting flocs in the bottom of the
beaker.
 Figure 1 Jar Test set up

After performing the test, we were able to decide the range of concentrations we
were going to implement in our water treatment plant. We concluded that
concentrations beyond 50 mg/L leaded to poor performance of the coagulant.
However, we would need to do more tests if we want to set a lower bound.

Nevertheless, we kept in mind that the results werent definitive but just
indicative and we needed to run the plant in a wide interval of concentrations.

The following days we ran the plant with concentrations varying from 5 mg/L to 40
mg/L of PACl, in steps of 5. To do so, we just changed the pump flow rate of our
stock concentration.

In increasing order, we first have a concentration of 5 mg/L of PACl. Figure 1 shows

the data corresponding to the effluent turbidity achieved with this concentration
along approximately 24 hours.
 Figure 1 Flow rate of 0.25 ml per min, Concentration of 5 mg per L (PACl)

Although we can observe some spikes, the data shows that turbidity remains far
below 1 NTU most of the time. These spikes occur regularly, matching up the
backwash times (WHAT IS THE EXACT REASON OF THE SPIKES AND RELATION
WITH BACKWASH). We can ignore these high values of turbidity, since they
represent a minimal percentage of the total time the plant has been running, and
have no effect on water quality. If we do so, we can compute an average value of
the effluent turbidity, obtaining 0.24 NTU for this case.

The next concentration tested was 10 mg/L, obtaining similar results shown in
Figure 2.
 Figure 2 Flow rate of 0.5 ml per min, Concentration of 10 mg per L (PACl)

Again, you can appreciate spikes each time backwash takes place. A priori, the
increasing concentration of coagulant should lead to a decrease in the effluent
turbidity. This turns out to be true, obtaining an average turbidity of 0.19, which is
slightly lower than the previous one.

The following coagulant concentration used was 15 mg/L. See Figure 3 for results.

Figure 3 Flow rate of 0.75 ml per min, Concentration of 15 mg per L (PACl)

One remarkable fact of this run is that spikes are much lower close to 0.5 NTU
than previous runs, achieving an effluent turbidity always below 1 NTU during more
than 24 hours. Also, the spikes are followed by well defined plateau areas, which
suggests a constant value of the effluent turbidity. In this case, the average
turbidity obtained was 0.10, which is lower than the two previous ones.

Figures from 4 to 8 show data for 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 mg/L in consecutive order.

Figure 4 Flow rate of 1.0 ml per min, Concentration of 20 mg per L (PACl)

Figure 5 Flow rate of 1.25 ml per min, Concentration of 25 mg per L (PACl)

Figure 6 Flow rate of 1.5 ml per min, Concentration of 30 mg per L (PACl)

Figure 7 Flow rate of 1.75 ml per min, Concentration of 35 mg per L (PACl)

 Figure 8 Flow rate of 2.0 ml per min, Concentration of 40 mg per L (PACl)

The last day of plant operation we switched the coagulant to Alum. We used a
concentration of 60 mg/L, since its an optimal value that is being used in many
present water treatment plants. Figure 9 depicts the data obtained in this run.

Figure 9 Flow rate of 0.5 ml per min, Concentration of 60 mg per L (Alum)

A lot of similarities appear in this test. After an initial time of consolidation, the
common pattern of regularly spikes followed by plateaus is observed.

Our ultimate goal in this experiment is to find the optimal dosage of PACl so that we
obtain the lowest effluent turbidity in our water treatment plant. To do so, we have
ran the plant with eight different concentrations. For each one, we have obtained
the average effluent turbidity and plotted the concentration versus the average
turbidityFigure 10.
Figure 10 Comparison of average effluent turbidity for different concentrations of
PACl and the proposed ideal concentration of Alum.

Theoretically, effluent turbidity should decrease as we increase the concentration of

the coagulant until reaching a minimum value . Once turbidity gets to this
minimum, the effect of adding more coagulant would have a negative impact, and
turbidity would start to go up. The conclusion is that the optimal dosage of
coagulant would be the one corresponding to that minimun value of turbidity. In
Figure 11 we can appreciate this theoretical behavior.

Figure 11 Theoretical behavior of turbidity as a function of coagulant added

However, our experiments differ somewhat from this behavior. At the beginning,
theory is fulfilled, and turbidity decreases as we add more coagulant. It reaches a
local minimum at 15 mg/L concentration, it starts going up but then goes down
again and reaches an absolute minimum for 30 mg/L.

Although our results differ from theory, we can reach some conclusions.

On one hand, 30 mg/L is the concentration with which we attain the lowest effluent
turbidity. But, if we look at Figure 6, we see that spikes are pretty high.

On the other hand, 15 mg/L provides an average turbidity very similar to 30 mg/L,
and presents several advantages with respect to 30 mg/L. First, the lower amount
of PACl needed would reduce the price, in fact, it would be halved. Second, the
spikes observed in Figure 3 are much lower, lying always below 1 NTU.

Also, 35 mg/L yields to very low turbidity with small spikes.

Finally, we have also included in Figure 10 the result for the Alum, obtaining a
turbidity almost equal to the ones attained with 30 and 15 mg/L. Thus, we can
recommend the use of PACl since the amount needed is between half for 30 mg/L
and a quarter for 15 mg/L part the amount needed for Alum 60 mg/L.
However, in this conclusion we have to take into account the difference in prices
between PACl and Alum. PACl is more expensive; it costs approximately double than
Alum. Therefore, if we use 30 mg/L the cost would be about the same, and if we use
15 mg/L it would be half the cost.