Effect of aluminum sulfate and cationic polyelectrolytes on the destabilization of emulsified wastes

Influence of cation concentration and valence on the structure and texture of spray-dried supraparticles from colloidal silica dispersions

The structure and texture of supraparticles determine their properties and performance, thus playing a critical role in research studies as well as industrial applications. The addition of salts is a well-known strategy to manipulate the colloidal stability of nanoparticles. In this study, this approach is used to tune the structure of spray-dried supraparticles. Three different salts (NaCl, CaCl2, and AlCl3) were added to binary silica (SiO2) nanoparticle dispersions (of 40 and 400 nm in size) to change their colloidal stability by lowering the electrostatic repulsion or enhancing the cation bridging. Dependent on the cation valence of the added salt and the nanoparticle size, the critical salt concentration, which yields nanoparticle agglomeration, is reached at different salt amounts. This phenomenon is exploited to tune the final structure of supraparticles - obtained by spray-drying binary dispersions - from core-shell to Janus-like to well-mixed structures. This consequently also tunes textural properties, like surface roughness and the pore system of the obtained supraparticles. Our results provide insights for controlling the structure of spray-dried supraparticles by manipulating the stability of binary nanoparticle dispersions, and they establish a framework for composite particle design.

Management of selected waste generated during cable production

The subject of the research was the recovery of raw materials from waste generated in the production of cable insulation and the management of aluminum sludge. It was found that 49% (w/w) acetophenone, 6.8% (w/w) α-methylstyrene, and 17.2% (w/w) cumyl alcohol can be recovered from waste with a loss on ignition of 95% and used in various industries. A gas chromatograph equipped with a mass spectrometry detector was used to identify the recovered compounds. A waste distillation process was proposed to remove the water layer and obtain a concentrated acetophenone fraction. A method of neutralizing the water fraction and distillation residues is presented. The proposed waste management method is an alternative method to the currently used thermal transformation method. In turn, aluminum sludge was used to produce aluminum sulfate, which was used in the plant's sewage treatment plant as a coagulant. The effect of this action was a reduction of 67% in the content of total iron, 60% of trivalent iron, and 32% of chemical oxygen demand. The above-mentioned examples of waste management are part of a closed-loop waste management strategy.

Application of coagulation/flocculation in oily wastewater treatment: A review

Volumes of oily wastewater are inevitably generated by every walk of life. The removal of oil particles from oil-contaminated wastewater which is characterized as huge amounts, intricate composition, and great threats to human health and the ecological environment is a research hotspot in water treatment fields. Due to high treatment costs and undesirable treatment efficiencies, oily wastewater treatment remains a topical and urgent issue. At present, coagulation/flocculation as an indispensable oily wastewater treatment technology receives much attention because it is very well established, economical, practical and relatively efficient. The influencing factors of oil wastewater treatment by coagulation/flocculation have also been summarized in-depth, like dosage, pH, etc. In consideration of its complex composition and treatment difficulty, this paper will also compare the treatment effects of different coagulants/flocculants used alone and combined effects in oily wastewater treatment: inorganic coagulants, organic synthetic polymeric flocculants, natural flocculants and modified polymeric flocculants. Additionally, in this review, the mechanisms of removing oily substance by coagulation/flocculation are emphasized. Given strict emission standards and the refractory nature of oily wastewater, the combination process with coagulation/flocculation, such as electrocoagulation, coagulation-membrane filtration hybrid process, and coagulation/flocculation-flotation can present better application potential and are discussed in this review. To provide a proper choice in practical application, the operating cost of coagulation and several conventional technologies are also compared. Finally, the existing challenges in the treatment of oily wastewater by coagulation are analyzed, and the feasible research direction is proposed.

Acceleration of floc-water separation and floc reduction with magnetic nanoparticles during demulsification of complex waste cutting emulsions

Waste cutting emulsions are difficult to treat efficiently owing to their complex composition and stable emulsified structure. As an important treatment method for emulsions, chemical demulsification is faced with challenges such as low flocs-water separation rates and high sludge production. Hence, in this study, Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were used to enhance chemical demulsification performance for treating waste cutting emulsions under a magnetic field. The addition of MNPs significantly decreased the time required to attain sludge-water separation and sludge compression equilibrium, from 210 to 20 min. In addition, the volume percentage of sludge produced at the equilibrium state was reduced from 45% to 10%. This excellent flocculation-separation performance was stable over a pH range of 3-11. The magnetization of the flocculants and oil droplets to form a flocculant-MNP-oil droplet composite, and the magnetic transfer of the composite were two key processes that enhanced the separation of cutting emulsions. Specifically, the interactions among MNPs, flocculants, and oil droplets were important in the magnetization process, which was controlled by the structures and properties of the three components. Under the magnetic field, the magnetized flocculant-MNP-oil droplet composites were considerably accelerated and separated from water, and the sludge was simultaneously compressed. Thus, this study expands the applicability of magnetic separation techniques in the treatment of complex waste cutting emulsions.

Effect of Dissolved Organic Matter on Agglomeration and Removal of CuO Nanoparticles by Coagulation

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), such as copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs), are emerging as pollutants extensively used in many commercial and industrial applications, thus raising environmental concerns due to their release into water bodies. It is, therefore, essential to remove these pollutants from water bodies in order to minimize the potential threat to the aquatic environment and human health. The objective of this study was to investigate the removal of CuO NPs from waters by the coagulation process. This study also explored the efficiency of coagulation to remove hydrophobic/hydrophilic dissolved organic matter (DOM) and turbidity with varying polyaluminum chloride (PACl) doses. According to the results, a high concentration of DOM affects both the CuO NPs zeta potential and hydrodynamic diameter, thereby decreasing the agglomeration behavior. At effective coagulation zone (ECR), high removal of CuO NPs (>95%) was observed for all studied waters (hydrophobic and hydrophilic waters), above ECR excess charge induced by coagulant restabilized particles in solution. Furthermore, waters containing hydrophobic DOM and those with high UV254nm values needed more coagulant dose than hydrophilic waters to obtain similar CuO NP removals. The primary mechanism involved in CuO NPs removal might be charge neutralization. These findings suggest that PACl is an effective coagulant in the removal of CuO NPs; however, water characteristics are an influencing factor on the removal performance of ENMs during the coagulation process.

Process optimization via response surface methodology in the physico-chemical treatment of vegetable oil refinery wastewater

The present paper investigates the efficiency of coagulation/flocculation process using aluminum sulfate as coagulant and CHT industrial flocculent as coagulant aid/flocculent in the treatment of vegetable oil refinery wastewater (VORW). The process optimization was conducted in two steps, jar test experiments for preliminary evaluation to identify the most influencing factors and response surface methodology using Box-Behnken design to investigate the effects of three major factors and their interactions. The variables involved were the coagulant concentration (X₁), flocculent dosage (X₂), and initial pH (X₃) of water samples, while the responses were COD removal (Y1) and residual turbidity (Y2). The optimal conditions obtained by solving the quadratic regression models, as well as by analyzing the response surface contour plots, were as follows: 2.4 g/L of coagulant (aluminum sulfate), 60.05 mg/L of flocculent, and about 9.23 as initial pH. Under these conditions, the coagulation/flocculation treatment was able to achieve 99% of COD removal with total turbidity elimination (100% removal). Analysis of variance showed high variance coefficient (R²) values of 0.929 and 0.836 for COD and turbidity removals, respectively, thus ensuring a satisfactory adjustment of the second-order regression model with the experimental data. This statistical design methodology was demonstrated as an efficient and feasible approach for the optimization of coagulation/flocculation treatment.

Study on the effect of chitosan conditioning on sludge dewatering

The difficulty of residual sludge dehydration is the major problem in sewage treatment. The reduction of moisture content in sludge can reduce the sludge volume significantly and is conducive to the subsequent disposal of sludge. As an organic polymer flocculant, chitosan (CTS) is widely used in water and waste water treatment. In this study, CTS was used in sludge treatment to improve the sedimentation and dehydration properties of sludge. When treated with CTS, the moisture content of sludge cake decreased from 85.9% to 83.0%, the SV30 decreased to about 1/2, and the sludge volume reduced to 82.9%. Further analysis showed that the zeta potential (ζ-potential) of the sludge changed from negative value to positive value, and the D50 of the sludge was larger than that of the raw sludge. In addition, when the moisture content of the sludge cake was reduced to the lowest, the concentration of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and SCOD was the largest and the |ζ| decreased to the lowest. CTS improved the dehydration and sedimentation performance of sludge mainly by factors of electrical neutralization, adsorption bridging and dissolution of EPS.

Influence of Organic Ligands on the Colloidal Stability and Removal of ZnO Nanoparticles from Synthetic Waters by Coagulation

The large-scale production and usage of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) may lead to their post-release into the aquatic environment. In this study, the effect of hydrophobic/hydrophilic organic ligands on sorption and sedimentation of ZnO NPs has been systematically investigated. In addition, the coagulation efficiency of ZnO NPs, Zn2+, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and UV254 with varying ferric chloride (FC) dosages in synthetic waters were also evaluated. The results showed that the higher concentration of organic ligands, i.e., humic acid (HA), salicylic acid (SA), and L-cysteine (L-cys) reduced the ζ-potential and hydrodynamic diameter (HDD) of particles, which enhanced the NPs stability. The adsorption of organic ligands onto ZnO NPs was fitted with the Langmuir model, with maximum adsorption capacities of 143, 40.47, and 66.05 mg/g for HA, SA and L-cys respectively. Removal of up to 95% of ZnO NPs and Zn2+ was achieved in studied waters at the effective coagulation zone (ECR), above which excess charge induced by coagulant restabilized the NPs in suspension. Moreover, the removal rate of DOC and UV254 were found to be higher in hydrophobic waters than hydrophilic waters. The width of ECR strongly depends on the characteristics of source water. The waters with hydrophobic ligand and higher UV254 values require more coagulant than hydrophilic waters to achieve the similar ZnO NPs and Zn2+ removal. The results of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis of ZnO NPs composite contaminant flocs indicated that the combined effect of enmeshment and charge neutralization might be a possible removal mechanism. These findings may facilitate the prediction of fate, transport, and removal of ZnO NPs in the natural waters, and might contribute to risk assessment, as well as decision making about engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in aquatic systems.

Analysis of cutting-oil emulsion destabilization by aluminum sulfate

The destabilization mechanism of the high stable cutting-oil emulsion by aluminum sulfate (Al₂(SO₄)₃) was investigated since it can affect properties of aggregates and following separation units. Al₂(SO₄)₃ dosage and pH were key factors in the destabilization. The effective separation occurred when precipitated Al(OH)₃ is dominated at the neutral pH of 6.5-7.0. The best separation can be achieved when solid flocs were formed at 1.0 mM, which exceeded the dosage from the critical coagulation concentration (CCC) of 0.75 mM. Two different mechanisms were proved for the emulsion destabilization depending upon the Al³⁺ concentration under this pH range. The first mechanism was the adsorption of Al(OH)₃ on surface of oil droplets, which led to the droplet coalescence. By increasing the Al³⁺ dosage, the sweep flocculation by Al(OH)₃ precipitates occurred. Al³⁺ dosage for effective destabilization was increased in accordance with oil concentration. The formation of aluminum hydroxide precipitates in bayerite structure was affirmed by analyzing elemental composition and crystalline structure of flocs from the destablization.

Membrane fouling control and enhanced removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products by coagulation-MBR

We investigated the effects of the addition of two coagulants-polyaluminium chloride (PACl) and chitosan-into the membrane bioreactor (MBR) process on membrane fouling and the removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). Their addition at optimized dosages improved the permeability of the membrane by reducing the concentration of soluble microbial products in mixed liquor, the content of inorganic elements, and irreversible fouling of the membrane surface. During long-term operation, the addition of PACl increased removal efficiencies of tetracycline, mefenamic acid, atenolol, furosemide, ketoprofen, and diclofenac by 17-23%. The comparative evaluation using mass balance calculations between coagulation-MBR (with PACl addition) and control-MBR (without PACl addition) showed that enhanced biodegradability played a key role in improving removal efficiencies of some PPCPs in coagulation-MBR. Coagulation-MBR also had higher oxygen uptake rates and specific nitrification rates of microorganisms. Overall, our findings suggest that the combination of MBR with coagulation reduced membrane fouling, lengthening operation period of the membrane, and improved the removal of some PPCPs as a result of enhanced biodegradability.

The effect of TiO2 nanoparticles removal on drinking water quality produced by conventional treatment C/F/S

Nanoparticles, namely titanium dioxide (TiO₂), are emerging contaminants widely used to commercial and industrial applications, are a potential hazard and can cause damage to environment and human health due to their toxicity. Therefore, their removal from the water is urgent to minimize or eliminate the adverse environmental and human effects. This work, investigates the efficiency of conventional coagulation/flocculation/sedimentation (C/F/S) from drinking water treatment to remove TiO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) from surface waters, and pretends to understand if the removal of TiO₂ NPs affects the ability of C/F/S to remove natural organic matter (NOM) and turbidity, and consequently affects the quality of the treated water. Results show that TiO₂ NPs removal is high (>90%) for all the waters studied (hydrophobic and hydrophilic waters) and the treated water quality is not compromised (turbidity, Ti and Al concentrations, pH and conductivity are below the national and international guidelines). In addition, TiO₂ initial concentrations, ranging between 0.2 and 10 mg/L, have not a significant impact on NPs removal by C/F/S. Therefore, the widely used polyaluminium based coagulants are effective in the removal of TiO₂ NPs by conventional C/F/S treatment, but removal is strongly influenced by the water characteristics. Hydrophobic waters need a higher coagulant dose than hydrophilic waters to achieve the same TiO₂ NPs removals, as well as water with higher UV_254nm values. The principal mechanism involved in TiO₂ NPs removal is charge neutralisation.

A review on chitosan-based flocculants and their applications in water treatment

In recent years, the use of chitosan and its derivatives as flocculants in water treatment has received considerable attention due to their many advantages, including their widespread availability, environmental friendliness, biodegradability, and prominent structural features. However, it is a significant strategy for selection and design of the high-performance materials on the basis of their structure-activity relationships. Here we describe several of the chemical modification methods commonly used to prepare chitosan-based flocculants. These methods allow convenient control and adjustment of the structures of the obtained materials to meet the different practical requirements. The influence of structural elements of the chitosan-based flocculants on their flocculation properties are emphasized in this review by examining different flocculation mechanisms and their applications in the treatment of various wastewaters containing different pollutants (insoluble suspended colloids but also dissolved matters). Above all, the chitosan-based flocculants with proper structures by precise structure control bear great application potentials in water treatment.

Effect of AlCl3 concentration on nanoparticle removal by coagulation

In recent years, engineered nanoparticles, as a new group of contaminants emerging in natural water, have been given more attention. In order to understand the behavior of nanoparticles in the conventional water treatment process, three kinds of nanoparticle suspensions, namely multi-walled carbon nanotube-humic acid (MWCNT-HA), multi-walled carbon nanotube-N,N-dimethylformamide (MWCNT-DMF) and nanoTiO2-humic acid (TiO2-HA) were employed to investigate their coagulation removal efficiencies with varying aluminum chloride (AlCl3) concentrations. Results showed that nanoparticle removal rate curves had a reverse "U" shape with increasing concentration of aluminum ion (Al(3+)). More than 90% of nanoparticles could be effectively removed by an appropriate Al(3+) concentration. At higher Al(3+) concentration, nanoparticles would be restabilized. The hydrodynamic particle size of nanoparticles was found to be the crucial factor influencing the effective concentration range (ECR) of Al(3+) for nanoparticle removal. The ECR of Al(3+) followed the order MWCNT-DMF>MWCNT-HA>TiO2-HA, which is the reverse of the nanoparticle size trend. At a given concentration, smaller nanoparticles carry more surface charges, and thus consume more coagulants for neutralization. Therefore, over-saturation occurred at relatively higher Al(3+) concentration and a wider ECR was obtained. The ECR became broader with increasing pH because of the smaller hydrodynamic particle size of nanoparticles at higher pH values. A high ionic strength of NaCl can also widen the ECR due to its strong potential to compress the electric double layer. It was concluded that it is important to adjust the dose of Al(3+) in the ECR for nanoparticle removal in water treatment.

Recovery of oil from oil-in-water emulsion using biopolymers by adsorptive method

In the present study, it is aimed to identify, a low cost sorbent for the recovery of oil from oil-in-water emulsion using biopolymers such as chitin and chitosan. Chitin has the greater adsorption capacity than chitosan due to its hydrophobic nature. The characterizations of chitin and chitosan were done using FTIR, SEM, EDAX, XRD, TGA and DSC techniques. Under batch equilibrium mode, a systematic study was performed to optimize the various equilibrium parameters viz., contact time, pH, dosage, initial concentration of oil, and temperature. The adsorption process reached equilibrium at 40 min of contact time and the percentage removal of oil was found to be higher (90%) in the acidic medium. The Freundlich and Langmuir models were applied to describe the equilibrium isotherms and the isotherm constants were calculated. Thermodynamic parameters such as ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS° were calculated to find out the nature of the sorption mechanism. The kinetic studies were investigated with reaction-based and diffusion-based models. The suitable mechanism for the removal of oil has been established.

Removal of dispersant-stabilized carbon nanotubes by regular coagulants

Coagulation followed by sedimentation, as a conventional technique in the water treatment plant, can be the first line of defense against exposures of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to aquatic organisms and human beings, which has been rarely documented. This study investigated the removal of dispersant-stabilized CNT suspensions by poly aluminum chloride (PACl) and KAl(SO4)2 x 12H2O (alum), with a focus on the effects of dispersant type, coagulant type and dosage. PACl performed better than alum in the removal of tannic acid-, humic acid-, and sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate-stabilized CNTs, but worse for polyethylene glycol octylphenyl ether (TX100)-stabilized CNTs. Neither coagulant could effectively precipitate cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide-stabilized CNTs. The removal by PACl first increased up to a plateau and then decreased with the continued increase of coagulant dosage. However, the removal rates leveled off but did not decrease after achieving their highest level with the continued addition of alum. The coagulation and flocculation of the CNT suspensions by PACl could be regulated mainly by the mechanism of adsorption charge neutralization, whereas the coagulation by alum mainly involved electrical double-layer compression.

Treatment of a waste oil-in-water emulsion from a copper-rolling process by ultrafiltration and vacuum evaporation

A process is proposed for the treatment of a waste oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion generated in an industrial copper-rolling operation. The use of demulsifier agents improves the subsequent treatment by techniques such as ultrafiltration (UF) or evaporation. The effluent COD is reduced up to 50% when the O/W emulsion is treated by UF using a flat 30 nm TiO(2) ceramic membrane (ΔP = 0.1 MPa) and up to 70% when it is treated by vacuum evaporation, after an emulsion destabilization pretreatment in both cases. Increases in the UF permeate flux and in the evaporation rate are observed when a chemical demulsifier is used in the pretreatment step. A combined process consisting of destabilization/settling, UF, and vacuum evaporation can yield a very high-quality aqueous effluent that could be used for process cooling or emulsion reformulation.

Preparation of a novel inorganic polymer coagulant from oil shale ash

In this paper, a novel inorganic polymer coagulant was prepared from oil shale ash, and was adopted to treat municipal sewage. Effect of coagulants dosage on the turbidity and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal were examined. In addition, the structure and morphology of the prepared coagulants were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infra-red spectra (FTIR), furthermore, the zeta potential of the sewage and the microscopic images of flocks were measured. The results indicate that the characterization and coagulation performance of the samples are affected by Al/Fe mole ratios and the type of lixiviant. The most of Fe(3+) is not turned into the crystals, which means that the samples are not simple mixtures of raw materials but inorganic polymer compounds with iron, aluminum, silicon and other ions. When Al/Fe mole ratio is 0.71 or the 2HCl/H(2)SO(4) mole ratio of the lixiviant is 1:1, the coagulation performance of the sample is better than that of the others. The integrated analysis suggests that the entrapment, adsorption and complexation abilities play important roles in coagulation process although the charge neutralization is weak. Also, the chain-net structure and the suitable size of polymer group are favorable for the entrapment, adsorption and complexation ability of the samples.

Optimization of oil removal from oily wastewater by electrocoagulation using response surface method

Electrocoagulation process with sacrificial aluminium anode was used to separate oil from oily wastewater emulsion. A preliminary experimental study was performed to evaluate the most accurate operating parameters, which are then used for the determination of oil removal efficiency. An experimental design using response surface method (RSM) was then applied and oil separation was estimated by measuring turbidity and chemical oxygen demand (COD). An optimal region characterised with low values of turbidity and COD was found. As part of the optimized process, the main effects of the operational parameters were also investigated. The experimental results indicated that electrocoagulation was very efficient and able to achieve 99% turbidity and 90% chemical oxygen demand (COD) in less than 22 min and current density of 25 mA cm(-2). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a high variance coefficient (R(2)) value of 0.998, thus ensuring a satisfactory adjustment of the second-order regression model with the experimental data.

Coagulation and electrocoagulation of oil-in-water emulsions

In this work the efficiencies of the chemical and the electrochemical break-up of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions with hydrolyzing aluminium salts are compared. It has been obtained that the efficiency of the processes does not depend directly on the dosing technology, but on the total concentration of aluminium and pH. This latter parameter changes in a different way in the chemical and the electrochemical processes: the pH increases during the electrochemical experiments since the electrochemical system leads to the formation of aluminum hydroxide as a net final product, but it decreases in the conventional ones due to the acid properties of the aluminum salts added (AlCl3 or Al2(SO4)3). The break-up of the emulsions only takes place in the range of pHs between 5 and 9, and the amount of aluminium necessary to produce the destabilization of the emulsion is proportional to the oil concentration. Electrolytes containing chlorides improve COD removal as compared with those containing sulphate ions. Aluminium hydroxide precipitates were found to be the primary species present in solution in the conditions in which the breaking process is favoured. Consequently, the attachment of more than one droplet of oil at a time to a charged precipitate-particle (bridging flocculation) was proposed as the primary destabilization mechanism.

Feasibility investigation of oily wastewater treatment by combination of zinc and PAM in coagulation/flocculation

Poly-zinc silicate (PZSS) is a new type of coagulant with cationic polymer synthesized by polysilicic acid and zinc sulfate. It has been used in several sorts of wastewaters treatment, but not used in oily wastewater treatment. In this study, we investigated the coagulation/flocculation of oil and suspended solids in heavy oil wastewater (HOW) by PZSS and anion polyacrylamide (A-PAM). The properties of PZSS cooperated with A-PAM were compared with PAC and PFS in dosages, PAMs amount, settling time, pH value and flocs morphology. The results showed that PZSS was more efficient than PAC and PFS. Under the optimum experimental conditions of coagulation/flocculation (dosage: 100mg/L, A-PAM dosage: 1.0mg/L, settling time time: 40min and pH 6.5-9.5), more than 99% of oil was removed and suspended solid value less than 5mg/L by using PZSS cooperated with A-PAM, which could satisfy the demands of the pre-treatment process for HOW to be reused in the steam boiler or recycled into the injecting well.

Break-up of oil-in-water emulsions by electrochemical techniques

Electrochemically-assisted technologies can be successfully applied to the treatment of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions. In this work, it is studied the influence of the main parameters (electrical charge passed, pH, electrolyte, oil content and operation mode) in the efficiency of these processes, when aluminium electrodes are used. The pH was found to be the most significant parameter, and good removal efficiencies were only obtained for pHs in the range 5-9. The electrical charge passed was observed to be directly related to the aluminium supplied to the waste. For a given oil concentration it is required that a minimum electrical charge is passed to break-up the emulsion. Further increases in the electrical charge lead to increase in the COD removal. The influence of the oil concentration is related to that of the electrical charge passed: for a given dose of aluminium, the higher the oil content the lower the COD-removal efficiency. Likewise, to produce the break-up of the emulsion it is required a minimum dose of aluminium (electrical charge passed), lower doses do not attain the rupture of the emulsion. The type of electrolyte and its concentration were also found to influence the process efficiency. Better efficiencies were obtained in the treatment of chloride-containing wastes and for low concentration of electrolyte. The destabilization of the O/W emulsion was found to be favoured in the discontinuous operation mode. Bridging flocculation is a primary destabilization mechanism that can explain the experimental results obtained in this work.

Influence of droplet characteristics on the formation of oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by surfactant-chitosan layers

The objective of this study was to establish the optimum conditions for preparing stable oil-in-water emulsions containing droplets surrounded by surfactant-chitosan layers. A primary emulsion containing small droplets (d32 approximately = 0.3 microm) was prepared by homogenizing 20 wt% corn oil with 80 wt% emulsifier solution (20 mM SDS, 100 mM acetate buffer, pH 3) using a high-pressure valve homogenizer. The primary emulsion was diluted with chitosan solutions to produce secondary emulsions with a range of oil and chitosan concentrations (0.5-10 wt% corn oil, 0-1 wt% chitosan, pH 3). The secondary emulsions were sonicated to help disrupt any droplet aggregates formed during the mixing process. The electrical charge, particle size, and amount of free chitosan in the emulsions were then measured. The droplet charge changed from negative to positive as the amount of chitosan in the emulsions was increased, reaching a relatively constant value (approximately +50 mV) above a critical chitosan concentration (C(Sat)), which indicated that saturation of the droplet surfaces with chitosan occurred. Extremely large droplet aggregates were formed at chitosan concentrations below C(Sat), but stable emulsions could be formed above C(Sat) provided the droplet concentration was not high enough for depletion flocculation to occur. Interestingly, we found that stable multilayer emulsions could also be formed by mixing chitosan with an emulsion stabilized by a nonionic surfactant (Tween 20) due to the fact the initial droplets had some negative charge. The information obtained from this study is useful for preparing emulsions stabilized by multilayer interfacial layers.

Physicochemical properties of cross-linked poly-γ-glutamic acid and its flocculating activity against kaolin suspension

Cross-linked poly-gamma-glutamic acid (C-L gamma-PGA) was prepared with gamma-PGA irradiated with gamma-ray at various kGy values. The physicochemical properties including viscosity and water absorption capacity were compared between C-L gamma-PGA and several typical flocculating agents. The viscosity of C-L gamma-PGA increased with the dose of gamma-irradiation, although the water absorption capacity of C-L gamma-PGA did not, which showed a maximum of 1005.6 ml/g at 20 kGy. Flocculating activity against kaolin suspension was not observed for any of the test compounds when used singly. However, the activity of C-L gamma-PGA markedly increased following the addition of polyaluminum chloride. The activity increased with temperature up to 80 degrees C and remained at 80 degrees C of heat pretreatment for 1 h, but did not at more than 50 degrees C of heat pretreatment for 24 h. The activity was also observed within a pH range of 4.5-10.0. Both the water absorption capacity and flocculating activity of C-L gamma-PGA decreased in parallel with increasing NaCl concentration, suggesting that the flocculating activity of C-L gamma-PGA was associated with its water absorption capacity, rather than viscosity. An investigation of the effects of various cations on the flocculating activity of C-L gamma-PGA showed that only trivalent cations had a synergistic effect. The mechanism of C-L gamma-PGA flocculating activity is discussed based on the results of preliminary experiments.

Production and characterization of O/W emulsions containing droplets stabilized by lecithin-chitosan-pectin mutilayered membranes

The possibility of producing stable oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions containing oil droplets surrounded by multiple layer interfacial membranes from food grade ingredients has been demonstrated. These emulsions were produced using a three stage process that relies on the adsorption of charged biopolymers to oppositely charged surfaces. Emulsions (0.5 wt % corn oil, 0.1 wt % lecithin, 0.0078 wt % chitosan, 0.02 wt % pectin, and 100 mM acetic acid, pH 3.0) containing oil droplets stabilized by lecithin-chitosan-pectin membranes were formed using this interfacial layer-by-layer deposition process. The droplets in these emulsions had good stability to aggregation over a wide range of pH values and salt concentrations (pH 4-8 at 0 mM NaCl and pH 3-8 at 100 mM NaCl). This technology could be extremely useful to the food industry for the creation of O/W emulsions with improved properties or novel applications, e.g., improved stability to environmental stresses, protection of labile substances, controlled release, and triggered release.

[Coagulation-flocculation performances for cuttlefish effluents treatment]

Coagulation-flocculation of the colloids particles present in the cuttlefish effluents was investigated using a coagulation step with aluminium sulphate (SA), followed by a flocculation step with starch, SiO2 or MgO and then poly dimethyl ammonium chloride (PDMAC), in order to reduce the turbidity and chemical oxygen demand (COD). Kinetic aspects, adsorption equilibrium, pH and conductivity were studied in order to determine the optimum coagulation conditions and SA quantities. The addition of organic polymer as a flocculant agent gave a better performance than the use of salt alone with a reduction of 50% of the SA consumption. Polymer molecular weight of PDMAC and charge density of starch have been also investigated. The best result, which is 90% of removal rate in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and a turbidity value of 7 NTU was obtained with the combination using 165.5 mg l(-1) of aluminium sulphate, 750 mg l(-1) of MgO and 35 mg l(-1) of PDMAC 400000.

Production and characterization of O/W emulsions containing cationic droplets stabilized by lecithin-chitosan membranes

Oil-in-water emulsions containing cationic droplets stabilized by lecithin-chitosan membranes were produced using a two-stage process. A primary emulsion was prepared by homogenizing 5 wt % corn oil with 95 wt % aqueous solution (1 wt % lecithin, 100 mM acetic acid, pH 3.0) using a high-pressure valve homogenizer. This emulsion was diluted with aqueous chitosan solutions to form secondary emulsions with varying compositions: 1 wt % corn oil, 0.2 wt % lecithin, 100 mM acetic acid, and 0-0.04 wt % chitosan (pH 3.0). The particle size distribution, particle charge, and creaming stability of the primary and secondary emulsions were measured. The electrical charge on the droplets increased from -49 to +54 mV as the chitosan concentration was increased from 0 to 0.04 wt %, which indicated that chitosan adsorbed to the droplet surfaces. The mean particle diameter of the emulsions increased dramatically and the emulsions became unstable to creaming when the chitosan concentration exceeded 0.008 wt %, which was attributed to charge neutralization and bridging flocculation effects. Sonication, blending, or homogenization could be used to disrupt flocs formed in secondary emulsions containing droplets with high positive charges, leading to the production of emulsions with relatively small particle diameters (approximately 1 microm). These emulsions had good stability to droplet aggregation at low pH (< or =5) and ionic strengths (<500 mM). The interfacial engineering technology utilized in this study could lead to the creation of food emulsions with improved stability to environmental stresses.