• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.181-194
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• 1995

Flocculation kinetics using ferric nitrate as a coagulant to coagulate kaolin clay in water was examined as a tool to investigate the effect of low temperature under tightly controlled treatment conditions. Both the particle size distribution data obtained from Automatic Image Analysis (AIA) system and the on-line measurement of the degree of turbidity fluctuation in a flowing suspension by Photometric Dispersion Analyzer (PDA) were used to measure flocculation kinetics. Results show that cold water temperature had a pronounced detrimental effect on flocculation kinetics. For improving flocculation kinetics at low water temperature, maintaining constant pOH to adjust water chemistry for temperature changes was found to be partially effective only in the more acidic pH range studied.