CLARIFIER 1
Clarifiers are settling tanks built with mechanical means
for continuous removal of solids being deposited by
sedimentation.
A clarifier is generally used to remove solid particulates
or suspended solids from liquid for clarification and (or)
thickening. Concentrated impurities, discharged from
the bottom of the tank are known as sludge, while the
particles that float to the surface of the liquid are called
scum.
Technology:
Although sedimentation might occur in tanks of other
shapes, removal of accumulated solids is easiest with
conveyor belts in rectangular tanks or with scrapers
rotating around the central axis of circular tanks.
Mechanical solids removal devices move as slowly as
practical to minimize resuspension of settled solids.
Tanks are sized to give water an optimal residence time
within the tank. Economy favours using small tanks; but
if flow rate through the tank is too high, most particles
will not have sufficient time to settle, and will be carried
with the treated water. Considerable attention is
focused on reducing water inlet and outlet velocities to
minimize turbulence and promote effective settling
throughout available tank volume. Baffles are used to
prevent fluid velocities at the tank entrance from
extending into the tank; and overflow weirs are used to
uniformly distribute flow from liquid leaving the tank
over a wide area of the surface to minimize
resuspension of settling particles.
Applications:
1. Pre-treatment
Before the water enters the clarifier, coagulation and
flocculation reagents, such as polyelectrolytes and ferric
sulphate, can be added. These reagents cause finely
suspended particles to clump together and form larger
and denser particles, called flocs that settle more
quickly and stably. This allows the separation of the
solids in the clarifier to occur more efficiently and
easily; aiding in the conservation of energy. Isolating
the particle components first using these processes
may reduce the volume of downstream water treatment
processes like filtration.
2. Potable water treatment
Water being purified for human consumption, is treated
with flocculation reagents, then sent to the clarifier
where removal of the flocculated coagulate occurs
producing clarified water. The clarifier works by
permitting the heavier and larger particles to settle to
the bottom of the clarifier. The particles then form a
bottom layer of sludge requiring regular removal and
disposal. Clarified water then proceeds through several
more steps before being sent for storage and use.
3. Waste water treatment
Sedimentation tanks have been used to treat
wastewater for millennia. Primary treatment of sewage
is removal of floating and settleable solids through
sedimentation. Primary clarifiers reduce the content of
suspended solids and pollutants embedded in those
suspended solids. Because of the large amount of
reagent necessary to treat domestic wastewater,
preliminary chemical coagulation and flocculation are
generally not used, remaining suspended solids being
reduced by following stages of the system. However,
coagulation and flocculation can be used for building a
compact treatment plant (also called a "package
treatment plant"), or for further polishing of the treated
water.
Sedimentation tanks called "secondary
remove flocs of biological growth created
methods of secondary treatment including
sludge, trickling filters and rotating
contactors.
clarifiers"
in some
activated
biological
4. Mining
Methods used to treat suspended solids in mining
wastewater include sedimentation and floc blanket
clarification and filtration. Sedimentation is used by Rio
Tinto Minerals to refine raw ore into refined borates.
After dissolving the ore, the saturated borate solution is
pumped into a large settling tank. Borates float on top
of the liquor while rock and clay settles to the bottom.