Tramfloc® flocculant tablets are manufactured from over 800 different Tramfloc® granular flocculant formulations. It is possible for us to convert the granular formulation of our flocculants into our flocculant tablets for ease of use and to meet the special needs of various nonconventional flocculant applications. Many years ago it was only possible to generate a handful of flocculant tablets due to manufacturing problems. Today, we are able to produce flocculant tablets in our facilities and meet all the customers’ special needs for our flocculant tablets. These flocculant tablets have a nominal thickness of 0.75” and a nominal diameter of 2.75” and have the appearance of a white to an off-white hockey puck. Our flocculant tablets weigh approximately 5 oz. and are packaged in 5-gallon pails with an approximate net weight of 50 pounds.
Flocculant Tablets: Composition and Feeding
Our flocculant tablets are composed of flocculant, binder, and a slow release agent. The binder serves to maintain the integrity of the tablet after manufacturing, warehousing, transportation, storage, and on-site application. This ensures that the tablet will not break apart into small pieces or form large amounts of dust in the pails. The slow release agent is the critical component which helps allow the operator to calculate the dissolution rate of our flocculant tablets. This is necessary so that the dissolution rate is controllable and predictable. For example, if bench testing determined that a 5 ppm dosage rate was correct for the flocculant tablet application, the operator would adjust the dilution water flow until he obtained optimum results from the flocculant tablet application. By majoring the daily tablet consumption and treated water flow, he could help ensure that he is feeding the predetermined dosage of the flocculant tablet so that it would not be overfed or underfed. Underfeeding the flocculant tablet would result in less than the optimal settling of solids in the water stream while overfeeding the flocculant tablet would be an economic contraindicator of cost-effective business practices. In other words, overfeeding would waste your expense funds.
Our flocculant tablets are often placed into perforated bags or plastic pails at the job site. In this fashion, a small stream of dilution water would flow into the bag or pail. This stream dissolves a small amount of flocculant tablet to create a flocculant solution which then flows, often by gravity, to the application point.
Flocculant Tablets: Applications
Flocculant tablet applications are as varied as the ingenuity of the engineer or operator. It would not be an exaggeration to state that the actual application of tablet flocculants is as much an art, as it is chemistry.
Flocculant tablets tend to be the physical form of choice when the engineer or operator has a water stream or a body of water or a construction site which needs to bind or precipitate suspended solids from the stream or water column. Flocculant tablets are often the most practical choice when the construction run-off pond, the lake, a receiving lagoon or a Baker tank requires a flocculant application and there will be minimum labor, electricity, or budget available at the job site. Many flocculant tablet applications are associated with erosion control on slopes at construction sites. In such circumstances, there is no practical method for utilizing a conventional automatic flocculant feeding system which would apply a liquid flocculant. Flocculant tablets are often the product of choice in soil stabilization applications, soil erosion control applications and irrigation applications involving pivots installed for watering. In these agricultural applications, the flocculant tablets are frequently suspended in a mesh bag below the pivots. In erosion control or construction runoff applications, the mesh bags are placed at the point where dirty water enters the pond, lagoon or tanks.
Tramfloc® Flocculant Logs have found application in many situations. Some are:
- Clarification of stormwater from construction sites.
- Clarification of stormwater runoff from extraction operations and stockpiles at rock, sand and gravel quarries.
- Clarification of stormwater from coal mining operations.
- Clarification of trade wastewater.
- Clarification of lime treated clays from coal washery runoff water.
Flocculant Tablets: Product Application
Tramfloc Flocculant Logs are cylindrical in shape, 18” long X 4” diameter. Each log weighs 10 lbs. Each 10 lb. log will treat approximately 250,000 gallons of water. The most common method for applying the logs is to place 3-4 logs in a ~1” opening wire mesh cage. The most common method for applying the logs is to place 3-4 logs in a ~1” opening wire mesh cage. The cage is positioned at a point of turbulence that will ensure contact with most of the water flow. A point of turbulence may have to be created if one does not exist. The wire cage should be firmly secured by rope or other means. The turbulent flow across the logs scours away the water-soluble polymer releasing flocculant into the water stream. Flocculation of sediment and suspended solids occurs immediately. A portion of the flocculant carries forward in the water to re-flocculate the solids. This is of benefit when natural turbulence is excessive as these conditions may degrade the flocs. For small flow rates, the log can be broken into small chips and placed in a pipe or overflow weir. Flocculation is affected by temperature and wastewater solids’ content. Cold water usually requires more mixing than warm water with high solids content.
Flocculant Tablets: Benefits
Tramfloc® Flocculant Logs offer many advantages including:
- Low capital cost.
- Stable product and long shelf life.
- Suitable for use in locations where electrical power and make up water is not available.
- No dosing equipment to maintain and monitor.
- Simple visual method for monitoring usage rate and log levels.
- Dosage rate approximates the flow to maintain proportional dosing. As water flow rate varies, the rate of log dissolution changes.
Flocculant Tablets: Economics/Cost Effectiveness
Our flocculant tablets are economical to apply, require very little labor input, and are provided to, service companies, contractors, and farmers. Please contact our sales department at water@tramfloc.com for further information about performing simple bench tests with our granular flocculant samples. After such a granular flocculant is selected during your bench screening process, we can convert that specific formulation into a tablet for your use within normal manufacturing lead time.