Polymer conditioning -- a Little Bit of Art, a Little bit of Science

摘要

Dewatering biosolids generally requires adding a conditioner prior to the dewatering process that aids in flocculating, or gathering together, the solids particles, in the material to be dewatered. Dewatering centrifuges, belt filter presses, rotary presses, and screw presses typically use polymer conditioners, according to Walter Scott, a district manager for municipal chemicals at Nalco Co. (Naperville, Ill.). Polymers consist of molecules (monomers) of organic or other compounds that have reacted with other molecules to form chained or linked structures of more or less complexity, depending on the compound and reaction. According to Encyclopedia Britannica Online, (www.britannica.com), "Polymers may consist of long chains of unbranched or branched monomers or may be cross-linked networks of monomers in two or three dimensions."