Definition and Types of Chlorination
Definition:
It is the method of disinfection by which the micro organisms are killed if chlorine & its components are used. Chlorination serves not only for disinfection, but as an oxidant for other substances (iron, manganese, cyanide, etc) & for taste & odor control in water & wastewater. Other chemical disinfectants include chlorine dioxide, ozone, bromine, iodine. The last two chemicals are generally used for personal application, not for the public water supply.
Types of Chlorination
Plain Chlorination
Chlorination of water relatively free from suspended matter without any other treatment
Pre Chlorination
The application of chlorine to raw water before any other treatment to improve the coagulation & to remove the taste, odor, & color
Post Chlorination
Application of chlorine to treated water after all the other treatment. Dosage chlorine range from 0.25-5.0mg/lit in order to obtain the combine residual chlorine in range of 0.1-0.2mg/lit
Chemical Properties of Chlorine - Chemistry of Chlorination
Free Available Chlorine
Effective chlorine disinfection depends upon its chemical form in water. The influencing factors are pH, temperature, & organic content in water. When chlorine gas dissolved in water, it rapidly hydrolysis to hydrochloric acid (HCL) & hypochlorous acid (HOCL)
Cl2 + H2O ? H+ + Cl- + HOCL
The equilibrium constant is KH = [H+] [Cl-] [HOCL]
[Cl2 (aq)] = 4.48 × 10 - 4 at 25 °C
Hypochlorous acid is a weak acid & subject to the further dissociation to hypochlorite ions & hydrogen ions
HOCL ? OCl- + H+
& its acid dissociation constant Ka is Ka = [OCl-] [H+]
HOCL = 3.7 × 10-8 at 25 ?C
Combine Available Chlorine
Chlorine reacts with certain dissolved constituent in water, such as ammonia & amino nitrogen compounds to produce the chloramines. These are referred as combined chlorine.
In the presence of ammonium ions, free chlorine reacts in a stepwise manner to form three species.
- Monochloramine NH2Cl
- Dichloramine NHCl
- Trichloramine NCl3
