Hydrolysis of polyaluminum chloride prior to coagulation: Effects on coagulation behavior and implications for improving coagulation performance

Abstract The effects of polyaluminum chloride (PACl) hydrolysis prior to coagulation on both the coagulation zone and coagulation performance of a kaolin suspension were investigated by a novel jar test named the “reversed coagulation test”. The tests showed that PACl hydrolysis prior to coagulation decreased the performance of charge neutralization coagulation in the case of short-time slow mixing (10 min; G  = 15 sec − 1 ) and increased the optimal dosage for charge neutralization and sweep coagulation. Moreover, the hydrolysis time had insignificant effects on the size and zeta potential of PACl precipitates and the residual turbidity of the raw water. However, PACl hydrolysis prior to coagulation and the size of PACl precipitates had a negligible effect on the performance of sweep coagulation. The results imply that, in practice, preparing a PACl solution with deionized water, rather than tap water or the outlet water from a wastewater treatment unit, can significantly save PACl consumption and improve the performance of charge neutralization coagulation, while preparing the PACl solution with tap or outlet water would not affect the performance of sweep coagulation. In addition, the optimal rapid mixing intensity appears to be determined by a balance between the degree of coagulant hydrolysis before contacting the primary particles and the average size of flocs in the rapid mixing period. These results provide new insights into the role of PACl hydrolysis and will be useful for improving coagulation efficiency.