Single-molecule aluminum salt AlCl3, medium polymerized polyaluminum chloride (PAC), and high polymerized polyaluminum chloride (HPAC) were prepared in a laboratory. The characteristics and coagulation properties of these prepared aluminum salts were investigated. The Langmuir, Freundlich, and Sips adsorption isotherms were first used to describe the adsorption neutralization process in coagulation, and the Boltzmann equation was used to fit the reaction kinetics of floc growth in flocculation. It was novel to find that the experimental data fitted well with the Sips and Boltzmann equation, and the significance of parameters in the equations was discussed simultaneously. Through the Sips equation, the adsorption neutralization reaction was proved to be spontaneous and the adsorption neutralization capacity was HPAC > PAC > AlCl3. Sips equation also indicated that the zeta potential of water samples would reach a limit with the increase of coagulant dosage, and the equilibrium zeta potential values were 30.25, 30.23, and 27.25 mV for AlCl3, PAC, and HPAC, respectively. The lower equilibrium zeta potential value of HPAC might be the reason why the water sample was not easy to achieve restabilization at a high coagulant dosage. Through the Boltzmann equation modeling, the maximum average floc size formed by AlCl3, PAC, and HPAC were 196.0, 188.0, and 203.6 μm, respectively, and the halfway time of reactions were 31.23, 17.08, and 9.55 min, respectively. The HPAC showed the strongest floc formation ability and the fastest floc growth rate in the flocculation process, which might be caused by the stronger adsorption and bridging functions of Alb and Alc contained in HPAC.
Keywords: Boltzmann equation; HPAC; PAC; Sips equation; aluminum species.