Relative Importance of Charge Neutralization and Precipitation on Coagulation of Kaolin with PACl: Effect of Sulfate Ion

The effect of the sulfate ion on coagulation with polyaluminum chloride (PACl) was investigated by using an optical monitoring technique together with the conventional jar test procedure and electrophoretic mobility (EM) measurements. The effect of the SO4(2-)/Al ratio, dosage, and pH were examined in detail. The experimental results show that sulfate has a significantly different effect on PACl coagulation as a result of preformed hydrolysis products, where charge neutralization and precipitation play different parts in the coagulation process. The increased rate of coagulation with increasing SO4(2-)/Al ratio can be partially explained by charge neutralization effects, through increased adsorption and complexation of sulfate, thus giving increased particle collision efficiency. Different PACl samples were prepared with different values of B ([OH]/[Al]). For B = 0 (i.e., AlCl3) with mainly monomers, hydroxide precipitation tends to be accelerated in the presence of sulfate, giving significant turbidity removal. The high charge neutralization ability remains for samples with B = 1.5 and 2.0, with large proportions of preformed oligomers and polymers. Sulfate promotes aggregation of hydrolyzed species for B= 2.5, causing significantly improved coagulation efficiency through an electrostatic patch effect. The results illustrate further that particle charge plays a less important role in coagulation after reaching a certain value, while precipitate formation improves coagulation significantly.