Flocculator

The flocculator of an AguaClara water treatment plant uses turbulence to cause coagulant and other particles to accumulate, forming flocs.

Example:
>>> from aguaclara.design.floc import *
>>> floc = Flocculator(q = 20 * u.L / u.s, hl = 40 * u.cm)
>>> round(floc.chan_w)
<Quantity(34, 'centimeter')>
class aguaclara.design.floc.Flocculator(**kwargs)[source]

Design an AguaClara plant’s flocculator.

A flocculator’s design relies on the entrance tank’s design in the same plant, but assumed/default values may be used to design a flocculator by itself. To design these components in tandem, use aguaclara.design.ent_floc.EntTankFloc.

Attributes:

  • BAFFLE_K (float): Minor loss coefficient around a baffle edge

  • CHAN_N_MIN (int): Minimum channel number

  • HS_RATIO_MIN (float): Minimum H/S ratio

  • HS_RATIO_MAX (float): Maximum H/S ratio

  • SDR (float): Standard dimension ratio

  • OBSTACLE_OFFSET (bool): Whether the baffle obstacles are offset from each other

Design Inputs:

  • q (float * u.L/u.s): Flow rate (required)

  • temp (float * u.degC): Water temperature (optional, defaults to 20°C)

  • ent_l (float * u.m): Entrance tank length (recommmended, defaults to 1.5m)

  • chan_w_max (float * u.inch): Maximum width (optional, defaults to 42”)

  • l_max (float * u.m): Maximum length (optional, defaults to 6m)

  • gt (float): Collision potential (optional, defaults to 37000)

  • hl (float * u.cm): Head loss (optional, defaults to 40cm)

  • end_water_depth (float * u.m): Depth at the end (optional, defaults to 2m)

  • drain_t (float * u.min): Drain time (optional, defaults to 30 mins)

  • polycarb_sheet_w (float * u.inch): Width of polycarbonate sheets used to construct baffles (optional, defaults to 42 in)

  • sed_chan_inlet_w_pre_weir (float * u.inch): Width of the inlet sedimentation channel pre-weir (optional, defaults to 42 in)

  • dividing_wall_thickness (float * u.cm): Thickness of dividing walls between each flocculator channel (optional, defaults to 15 cm)

  • chan_n_parity (str): Parity of the number of channels. Can be ‘even’, ‘odd’, or ‘any’ (optional, defaults to ‘even’)

property vel_grad_avg

The average velocity gradient of water.

property retention_time

The hydraulic retention time neglecting the volume created by head loss.

property vol

The target volume (not counting the volume added by head loss).

property chan_w_min_hs_ratio

The minimum channel width.

property chan_w_min

The minimum channel width.

property chan_n

The minimum number of channels based on the maximum possible channel width and the maximum length of the channels.

property chan_w_min_gt

The channel width minimum regarding the collision potential.

property chan_w

The channel width.

property l_max_vol

The maximum length depeneding on the volume.

property chan_l

The channel length.

property expansion_h_max

“The maximum distance between expansions for the largest allowable H/S ratio.

property expansion_n

The minimum number of expansions per baffle space.

property expansion_h

The height between flow expansions.

property baffle_s

The spacing between baffles.

property obstacle_n

The number of obstacles per baffle.

property contraction_s

The space in the baffle by which the flow contracts.

property obstacle_pipe_od

The outer diameter of an obstacle pipe. If the available pipe is greater than 1.5 inches, the obstacle offset will become false.