Cationic xylan- (2-methacryloyloxyethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride) polymer as a flocculant for pulping wastewater

In this work, pulp mill wastewater was treated with a novel polymer flocculant, which was synthesized through polymerizing (2-methacryloyloxyethyl) trimethyl ammonium chloride (DMC) and xylan. Xylan-DMC polymer removed 94.5% of turbidity, 61.7% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), 45.0% of lignin, 65.7% of sugar and 73.5% of biological oxygen demand (BOD) from the wastewater at the polymer concentration of 500 mg/L. The flocculation mechanism was fundamentally assessed with determining hydrodynamic size and chord length of flocs in the wastewater at different dosages of xylan-DMC polymer in the system. By adding polymers, the number of flocs with a small chord length (10-50 μm) decreased, while that with a large chord length (150-300 μm) increased, indicating the small particles agglomerated via bridging induced by the polymer. The sedimentation of formed flocs was quantitatively investigated by a vertical scan analyzer and the results depicted that the flocs could settle readily from the system.