Monte Carlo simulation of floc breakage: Considering the release of interstitial water

An examination of previously published experimental results reveals that the volume of floc is not a conserved property during the course of its disintegration. The present work investigates, for the first time, the effect of releasing the interstitial water on the dynamic characteristics of flocs in a lean, baffled, stirred tank. Stochastic simulation is conducted based on the assumption that a floc consists of a number of unit flocs each carries a fixed amount of immobilized water. When breakage occurs, a certain amount of interstitial water is released, and thus, the total volume of the dispersed-phase entities decreases as time proceeds. The maximum stable floc size, the amount of water carried by a unit floc, and breakage frequency are found to correlate with the mean energy dissipation inside the stirred tank.