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Flocculation of harmful algal cells using modified clay: effects of the properties of the clay suspension

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Abstract

Large differences occur between the removal efficiencies (RE) of polyaluminum chloride modified clay (PAC-MC) suspensions prepared using deionized water (DW) and seawater (SW). This showed that physicochemical properties of PAC-MC suspension influenced its ability to remove algal cells. The efficiency at which a PAC-MC suspension removed Aureococcus anophagefferens (CCMP 1984) and Phaeocystis globosa from water was determined using diluted seawater (DSW), dissolved ion species, ion concentrations, pH, temperatures, and suspension aging times. The RE decreased generally as the percentage of seawater increased, and the RE was higher for PAC-MC prepared using DW than that using SW. The ion species present and the ion concentrations in the suspension influenced the RE, with sulfate negatively affecting the RE more than the other ions tested. Sulfate in the PAC-MC suspension showed a “V”-shaped effect which can be partially explained by charge neutralization and “patch coagulation” that played different parts in the flocculation process. The effects of pH of PAC-MC suspension on the RE were greatly influenced by the dispersion medium. The RE of the PAC-MC suspended in DW decreased gradually, whereas RE of the PAC-MC suspended in SW followed a V-shaped trend, as the pH was increased. Surface charge is an important aspect in the removal mechanism of PAC-MC, but the flocculation behavior at low suspension pH conditions is less clear. Temperature and suspension aging time had no obvious effects on the RE. Appropriate explanation and mechanism is also proposed in the discussion. These studies showed that the RE could be further improved given proper attention to the properties of PAC-MC suspension.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Guang-yuan Lu for his kind advice in paper writing. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)-Shandong Joint Fund for Marine Science Research Centers (Grant No. U1406403), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA11020302), the Chinese State Oceanic Administration public welfare project (Grant No. 201305003–3) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant No.41576119).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, People’s Republic of China

    Yang Liu, Xihua Cao, Zhiming Yu, Xiuxian Song & Lixia Qiu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Yang Liu & Lixia Qiu

  3. Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266071, People’s Republic of China

    Yang Liu, Xihua Cao, Zhiming Yu, Xiuxian Song & Lixia Qiu

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  1. Yang Liu
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  2. Xihua Cao
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  5. Lixia Qiu
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Correspondence to Xihua Cao or Zhiming Yu.

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Liu, Y., Cao, X., Yu, Z. et al. Flocculation of harmful algal cells using modified clay: effects of the properties of the clay suspension. J Appl Phycol 28, 1623–1633 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-015-0735-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-015-0735-x

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