Date of Award
Fall 1992
Document Type
Thesis - Restricted
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering
First Advisor
Josse, Fabien
Second Advisor
Arkadan, Abd A.
Third Advisor
Shana, Zack A.
Abstract
The investigation of electric/magnetic field water treatment has been conducted in various laboratories. There have been enough claims of a "change" in the scale formation after treatment. Most of the evaluative testings of the electric/magnetic field water treatment only reveal a quick "yes" or "no" evidence of beneficial treatment. Those studies follow the same evaluation type of testing procedures and do not provide any insight into the principles of operation, i.e. the actual effect of the field on calcium carbonate (CaC03) particles in water. Thus, no generally accepted theory of electric field water treatment has been recognized so far. The present work involves a systematic study of electrostatic field treatment on particles in water for antiscaling application, using an accelerated scaling formation technique. A three-electrode cell circuit is developed to perform the accelerated electrochemical scaling test (AST) needed for a rapid evaluation of the electrostatic field effect. The objective of the AST is to obtain a rapid measurement of the scaling tendency of a given water sample subjected to the field by altering the electrochemical conditions of the substrates. From the obtained results, it is apparent that nucleation processes play an important role in determining the scaling tendency of the tested water sample. It is concluded that any process that could control nucleation will control the scaling tendency. This is due to the fact that the scaling process (CaC03 deposit) consists of nucleation and growth. In a preliminary conclusion, one may explain the effect of the electrostatic field as modifying particles size and charge which, in turn, affect the scaling tendency. Additional experiment, which consist of the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction analysis of the deposits on the electrode substrates from both untreated and treated water samples were also conducted. The result, clearly show a difference in deposit size, and structure between the deposits from untreated and treated water samples. Furthermore, the results shows that the scaling tendency of particles in water is a function of the magnitude of applied field. A plausible hypothesis is developed to explain the effect of the electrostatic field.
Recommended Citation
Huang, Wei, "Study of the Effect of Electrostatic Field on Water Treatment: Application to Antiscaling" (1992). Master's Theses (1922-2009) Access restricted to Marquette Campus. 4832.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/theses/4832