Synergies of media surface roughness and ionic strength on particle deposition during filtration

Although it is widely believed that media/collector roughness can enhance particle deposition on surfaces, this effect has not been consistently observed nor systematically described. Here, column tests were conducted to: 1) evaluate media roughness impacts on particle deposition in the presence of an energy barrier (i.e., at low ionic strength conditions), and 2) describe the concurrent impacts of collector surface roughness and suspension fluid ionic strength on particle deposition in packed beds. This work presents a first, systematic demonstration that media/collector surface roughness consistently influences particle deposition in a non-linear, non-monotonic manner, irrespective of the presence of an energy barrier. Notably, ionic strength-associated changes in DLVO interaction energy could not solely explain observed differences in particle deposition associated with collector surface roughness. Particle-to-roughness element and particle-to-smooth/bottom surface interactions contributed to a critical roughness size associated with a minimum DLVO interaction energy; however, that critical size is not necessarily the same as the critical size associated with minimal particle deposition rates. Surface roughness and ionic strength concurrently affected particle deposition in a manner that is not simply additive; rather, particle deposition rates were highly correlated with inverse Debye-Hückel length (i.e., ln [κ^-1]) using second-order polynomial functions. Notably, the secondary energy minimum alone appears inadequate for explaining the observed particle deposition behavior. These relationships may provide insight for further development of physico-chemical filtration models for describing particle deposition on surfaces.