EP329 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY VII

BEP3031 ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT LABORATORY

NO. OF EXPERIMENT: 2
TITLE OF EXPERIMENT: QUANTIFY THE DOSAGE REQUIREMENT
FOR COAGULATION PROCESS
NAME: VINCENT ARTHUR
ID: 1001955087
GROUP: 5
DATE OF EXPERIMENT: 31 May 2022
TUTOR: MS. RAFIZAH BINTI ZAITON; DR. SUM JING YAO; DR. LAI LI
SZE

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY & BUILT
ENVIRONMENT

2022
Table of Contents

1.0 Problem Statement ....................................................................................................... 1

2.0 Hypothesis ..................................................................................................................... 1

3.0 Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 1

4.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1

5.0 Material and Apparatus .............................................................................................. 2

6.0 Procedure ...................................................................................................................... 2

7.0 Results and Calculation ............................................................................................... 3

8.0 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 4

9.0 Limitation and Precautions ......................................................................................... 5

10.0 Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 5

11.0 References ..................................................................................................................... 6

12.0 Appendix ....................................................................................................................... 7

13.0 Rubric ............................................................................................................................ 8

EXPERIMENT 2: QUANTIFY THE DOSAGE REQUIREMENT FOR
COAGULATION PROCESS

1.0 Problem Statement

Water is an essential compound for all living things, moreover, human need a
clean water for living. However, nowadays, water often get contaminated from both
domestic and non-domestic source making clean water getting scarcer each year. The
most common consequence of contaminants is turbidity; hence, coagulation process is
performed to tackle this problem.

2.0 Hypothesis
The more coagulation agent added to the sample will make the sample to be
cleaner because it will make the cement to become coagulate and it will settle to the
bottom of the sample bottle, therefore, the turbidity of a sample will decrease as more
coagulation agent added to the sample.

3.0 Objectives
• To measure the turbidity of water samples in preparation for coagulation.
• To analyze the effect of dosage of coagulation agent towards turbidity value.
• To proof if the coagulation process able to lower/remove a turbidity in water.

4.0 Introduction
Turbidity in water in technical terms is usually referred to as turbidity. Turbidity
is the opacity or cloudiness of a liquid caused by individual particles (suspended solids)
that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement
of turbidity is an important indicator of water quality. Turbidity in surface water is
usually generated by phytoplankton development, as well as human activities that
disrupt the soil, such as building, which can result in high sediment levels entering the
waterways during the rainy season owing to precipitation runoff, resulting in foggy
conditions (Campbell, 2021).
Turbidity can be measured in many ways. One of them is by using a turbidity
meter, it is a quantitative analytical method based on light bending due to the presence
of particles in a solution. The ratio between the intensity of the transmitted light and the
original intensity of the light is essentially what is measured. When light passes through
a suspended solution, some of the energy is absorbed, reflected, and refracted, leaving

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 the remainder to be transmitted. The Turbidimeter equipment is based on the
measurement of light intensity as a function of concentration (Fondriest Environmental,
2014).
Suspended particles from the water source should be eliminated throughout the
drinking water treatment process. Coagulation is one of the most common methods that
able to eliminate the suspended solid contained in water, since, colloidal suspended
particles in water have the same electrical charges, repelling one another, and hence
tending to stay suspended. Coagulation can be employed to generate charge
destabilization on colloids and suspended solids, resulting in particle agglomeration
that is easier to settle (Bradley, 2022). In this experiment, Aluminium sulphate will be
employed as a coagulation agent.
When it comes to coagulation, the amount of coagulant employed
(concentration), the pH of the water, its alkalinity, retention time, and nature of
coagulant all have a part in how effective it is. Jar tests are frequently performed to
empirically establish the most efficient concentration of coagulant used in order to
manage the proper amount of coagulant utilized (Kuo, Amy, & Bryant, 1988).

5.0 Material and Apparatus

Material
1. Cement
2. Tap water
3. Aluminium sulphate

Apparatus
1. 6 of 1 L Beakers
2. Turbidity meter
3. Jar test
4. Electronic balance
5. Spatula
6. Watch glasses

6.0 Procedure
1. 6 beakers labelled as A, B, C, D, E, F were filled with 500 ml of tap water.

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 2. 3g of cement was added into each beaker.
3. The Mixture was placed on the jar test machine to be stirred with speed 200rpm for 5
minutes.
4. Aluminium Sulphate were added into beaker as stated below:
Beaker A: 0 mg
Beaker B: 10 mg
Beaker C: 15 mg
Beaker D: 20 mg
Beaker E: 25 mg
Beaker F: 30 mg
5. Each solution was stirred again for 10 minutes in the jar test machine.
6. After 10 minutes, the stirrers were stopped and the mixture was left to settled down.
7. The turbidity was measured using a turbidimeter and was recorded in Table 1.
8. A graph of turbidity and dosage of Aluminium Sulphate was plotted
9. Turbidity result for each beaker was observed and discussed.

7.0 Results and Calculation

Sample (Aluminium Turbidity (NTU)

st
Sulphate added) A (1 sample) B (2nd sample) Average A&B
A 0 mg 249 109 179
B 10 mg 107 105.5 106.25
C 15 mg 64 63.9 63.8
D 20 mg 36.5 36.5 36.5
E 25 mg 28.2 31.2 29.7
F 30 mg 35.7 28.1 31.9
Table .1 Result Obtained

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 Graph 1. Turbidity level vs dosage of Aluminium Sulphate

8.0 Discussion
This experiment was conducted to determine the level of turbidity in the sample
(tap water + 3g of cement) towards the effect of the coagulation process by
manipulating the amount of coagulation agent added to the sample.
The turbidimeter used to measure the turbidity in this experiment must be
calibrated before being used so that it can give the most accurate and precise reading
during the measurement of the water turbidity with NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity
Unit) scale.
The result obtained from this experiment shows that the turbidity level of the
sample decreases as the amount of aluminium sulphate (coagulation agent) added
increases, it indicates that the coagulation process decreases the turbidity of the water
sample which means coagulation makes the sample pure. This obtained result proves
the above-mentioned hypothesis that stated that the turbidity level of the sample will
decrease as more coagulating agent (aluminium sulphate) added because coagulation
makes the crude sample to be clearer by manipulating the electrostatic charges of small
solids particles present in the sample so that it combines into a larger particle so it will
be settled/agglomerate to the bottom of the sample (Bradley, 2022).
However, from the graph obtained can also be observed that the turbidity level
of the sample of A, B, C, D reduces significantly, and the changes of turbidity level
from sample D, E, F reduce only by a small difference, which from this can be
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 concluded that approximately around 20-25mg of aluminium sulphate is enough to
roughly fully removed 3g of cement added to the tap water.
Lastly, the data obtained above may also not be completely accurate because
some data still fluctuate from the expected results, this imprecise data value may come/
be affected from several factors for example, human error (e.g. inappropriate placing
of the sample vial during turbidity measurement; contaminants left on the vial) or
equipment failure (e.g. equipment error during sample stirring; equipment suddenly
stopped working in the middle of experiment).

9. Limitation and Precautions

There are several limitation and precaution in this experiment that may cause
some error value towards the data obtained.
First, the jar test that was used is an old apparatus so it might not perform very
well that may cause the cement or the aluminium sulphate to not well mixed. Hence,
the result of the turbidity test will be slightly inaccurate.
Secondly, during the turbidity test. The sample cells should be clean and free of
scratches, and students should conduct the turbidity test while wearing gloves to prevent
leaving fingerprints on the sample cells. Because a turbidity metre is an extremely
sensitive measurement, this might impact the turbidity value.
Lastly, another precaution that needs to be taken is during the placement of the
sample vial to the turbidity meter, be careful when placing the sample vial into the
instrument holder compartment until the arrow notch of the sample vial is in parallel to
the arrow notch of the turbidity meter because it may affect the reading of the turbidity
if it’s not properly placed.

10.0 Conclusion
Despite the presence of mistakes, all objectives were met, as well as the
hypothesis proposed and all data was collected, and calculated according to the results
of the experiment. The sample was prepared by mixing 3g of cement to the tap water
and mixed using the jar test, later, predetermined amount of aluminium sulphate was
added to the mixture and was mixed again using the jar test. The turbidity of the sample
was determined by using turbidity meter.
Based on the data and graphs obtained and plotted, it can be concluded that the
hypothesis of the experiment is appropriate because the value of turbidity in the mixture

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 decrease as more aluminium sulphate was added. However, some of the data obtained
above may not be totally correct since some data still deviates from predicted findings.
This erroneous data value might be caused by a variety of circumstances such as human
mistake or equipment malfunction, such as, inappropriate placing of the sample vial in
the holder compartment that cause inaccuracy and imprecise; and jar test stopped
working in the middle of experiment that cause a possibility that the coagulation
procedure did not provide enough time for the cement to coagulate.

11.0 References
• Bradley, E. (2022, May 25). WASTEWATER COAGULATION. Retrieved from
Dober.com: https://www.dober.com/water-treatment/resources/wastewater-
coagulation#:~:text=Coagulation%20is%20the%20chemical%20water,or%20oily%20
materials%20in%20suspension.
• Campbell, B. (2021, May 14). what turbidity. Retrieved from wwdmag:
https://www.wwdmag.com/what-articles/what-turbidity
• Fondriest Environmental. (2014, September 5). Measuring Turbidity, TSS, and Water
Clarity. Retrieved from www.fondriest.com:
https://www.fondriest.com/environmental-measurements/measurements/measuring-
water-quality/turbidity-sensors-meters-and-
methods/#:~:text=Turbidity%20meters%20measure%20the%20amount,at%20very%2
0low%20turbidity%20levels.
• Kuo, C.-J. (., Amy, G. L., & Bryant, C. W. (1988, July). Factors affecting coagulation
with aluminum sulfate. Retrieved from sciencedirect:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0043135488900231

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12.0 Appendix

7
13.0 Rubric

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