Difference between revisions of "Flocculation"

Flocculation is used in biotechnology applications in conjunction with microfiltration to improve the efficiency of biological feeds. The addition of synthetic flocculants to the bioreactor can increase the average particle size making microfiltration more efficient. When flocculants are not added, cakes can form and accumulate causing low cell viability. Positively charged flocculants work better than negatively charged ones since the cells are generally negatively charged.

After the flocculation process, usually the flocs are separated from the liquid phase. This separation can simply be the sedimentation of the flocs, but they can also be separated by other techniques like sieving, membrane filtration, collection of the flocs at the top layer etc.