Surface Chemical Groups of Flocs Are Key Factors for the Growth of Flocs in Sweep Coagulation: A Case Study of Surface Occupation by Humic Acid

Coagulation is one of the most common processes in water treatment. Charge neutralization and sweep flocculation are recognized as the primary coagulation mechanisms. However, in-depth understanding on floc growth, breakage, and regrowth is still unclear. In this study, the formation, breakage, and regrowth of alum flocs with humic acid (HA) added either before coagulant addition or during the floc breakage stage were investigated. The floc size continuously decreased with the increase in floc breakage events, and eventually, to a stable value. The floc growth was not affected by the addition of HA before coagulant addition. However, it was prevented as HA was added during the breakage stage, and the prevention extent increased with HA dose. Similar results were also found for natural organic matter (NOM) from real surface water. These results suggested that HA/NOM can cover the active site on the floc surface, and the coverage differed for fresh flocs (newly precipitated) and old flocs (after breakage), which, respectively, represent the case in conventional coagulation and sludge recirculation. Based on these findings, the illustration of floc growth, breakage, and regrowth processes was put forward. We concluded that the charge neutralization and sweep flocculation mechanisms only explained the possibility of flocs approaching each other; whether flocs can connect to each other depends on the activated functional groups on the floc surface. The results in this study revealed the underlying mechanism of “collision effectiveness” in coagulation, complementing the existing understanding of the coagulation process.