Identifier

etd-06252013-173807

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

The suspended cohesive sediments, mostly clay minerals with negative surface charges, usually interact through an array of intermolecular/surface forces (e.g., Coulomb force, van der Waals attractions, and hydrogen bonding) with waterborne organic matter (e.g., exopolymers) and dissolved salts, resulting in fractal, tenuous, and hybrid organic-inorganic flocs or “marine snow”. A pilot and systematic laboratory and theoretical work have been conducted towards a synthetic nanoscale understanding of the flocculation kinetics and mechanics of the clay-exopolymer micro-sized flocs. This systematic study has achieved two impressive objectives: (1) the effect of exopolymer polarity and concentration on the particle size kinetics of clay-exopolymer mixtures has been investigated, based on extensive flocculation experiments involving four clay minerals (i.e., kaolinite, illite, Na-montmorillonite, and Ca-montmorillonite), three exopolymers (i.e., xanthan, guar, chitosan), six exopolymer to clay weight ratios (i.e., 0, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 wt.%), and three hydrodynamic conditions (i.e., laminar, transitional, and turbulent flows); (2) the floc mechanical properties affected by salinity and exopolymers have also been investigated by means of extensive floc nanocompression testing involving the four aforementioned clay minerals, four neutral exopolymer (guar) to clay weight ratios (i.e., 0, 2, 10, and 20 wt.%), and four salinities (i.e., 0, 2, 10, and 30 PSU). Results from flocculation experiments indicate that both the pure clay and clay-exopolymer mixture suspensions possess discrete particle groups consisting of primary particles, flocculi, microflocs, and macroflocs that exhibit subordinate unimodal lognormal distributions. There exists a critical exopolymer to clay ratio that can lead to a maximal or minimal fraction of microflocs or macroflocs. Meanwhile, the highly scattered floc mechanical properties led to the theoretical finding that both floc’s elasticity and yield shear strength satisfy Weibull’s Law. These findings are of great importance to geotechnical engineering.

Date

2013

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Secure the entire work for patent and/or proprietary purposes for a period of one year. Student has submitted appropriate documentation which states: During this period the copyright owner also agrees not to exercise her/his ownership rights, including public use in works, without prior authorization from LSU. At the end of the one year period, either we or LSU may request an automatic extension for one additional year. At the end of the one year secure period (or its extension, if such is requested), the work will be released for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Zhang, Guoping

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.3474

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