Flocculation Kinetics of the Monodisperse System. Computer Simulation of Flocculation by the Two-Dimensional Geometrical Random Coalescence Model.

The process of the flocculation of monodispersed particles, whose binding strength is assumed to be very strong, had been simulated using the two-dimensional geometrical random coalescence model. The flocculation kinetics and the change mechanism of aggregate shapes were studied. In this simulation procedure, the kinetics were explained to follow a second-order rate equation in agreement with von Smoluchowski's flocculation theory. The morphological parameters, the porosity and the particle diameter of aggregates were indicated to be affected by the number of monodispersed particles and the collision probability, but they converged on one curve under the conditon of normalized flocculation time (t/t1/2). It was suggested that the change of the aggregate shapes and their enlargement were controlled by the same process, irrespective of the trial conditions. The shape of the aggregate obtained by the flocculation of agglomerated stearyl alcohol beads on the surface of water was similar to that of the simulation. Hence, it was considered that the strength of binding between beads is comparatively strong.