What factors affect the flocculation effect of cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM)?

Cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) is a commonly used flocculant for water treatment. Factors that affect the flocculation effect and can be controlled manually include the type and dosage of CPAM, wastewater pH, stirring time and settling time, and their reasonable setting is critical to the flocculation effect of CPAM.

What is cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM)?

Cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) is one of the most frequently used flocculants with high intrinsic viscosity and charge density. This flocculant is a water-soluble acrylamide-based polymer having cationic quaternary ammonium groups .

What are CPAM flocculation methods?

CPAM contains long molecular chains and many cationic units, so its main flocculation methods are adsorption bridging and charge neutralization .

Is cationic polyacrylamide soluble in water?

Cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) is highly soluble in water and can form clear solutions at low concentrations.Due to the positively charged functional groups, Cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) can attract and bond with negatively charged particles and suspended solids in water, leading to flocculation and sedimentation.

Which CPAM product was selected as a flocculant?

The CPAM product No. CPAM-8.14-40.2 in Table 1 was selected as the flocculant, the wastewater identical to that of the single-factor test was the treated object, reducing the wastewater turbidity was the optimization goal, and the CPAM dosage, the wastewater pH and the stirring time were influencing factors.

Does CPAM affect the flocculation effect?

The single-factor test results showed that the flocculation effect was better when the intrinsic viscosity was larger or the cationic degree of CPAM was higher; the CPAM dosage, wastewater pH and stirring time had significant impacts on the flocculation effect of CPAM and existed optimums.