3D Flocculation Clarifier Simulator

Flocculation Clarifier

Coagulant dose 24 mg/L

Paddle speed (G) 40 s⁻¹

Raw turbidity (particles) 120

Suspended flocs

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Avg floc size

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Turbidity removed

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Sludge bed height

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How it works

This is the same coagulation/flocculation chemistry as a jar test, staged as a 3D clarifier tank. A rotating paddle imposes a velocity gradient G through the water column — every particle's local flow speed depends on its distance from the paddle shaft, so the shear itself is inhomogeneous in 3D rather than a flat field. Colloids carry surface charge; a coagulant dose neutralizes it (an under- or over-dose leaves particles too charged, including sign-reversed restabilization at high overdose), letting collisions stick. Sticking is a genuinely 3D nearest-neighbour search each frame — no in-plane shortcut — and merged flocs conserve volume, so radius grows as (r₁³+r₂³)^⅓. Once large enough, Stokes settling (v ∝ r²) pulls flocs down through the paddle zone onto a sludge bed that visibly rises at the tank floor.

local shear(p) = G · dist(p, paddle axis)
α(dose)        = collision efficiency, peaks at optimum dose
r_new          = (r₁³ + r₂³)^(1/3)
v_settle       ∝ r² · g   (Stokes, opposed by drag)

Coagulant dose — sets how many 3D collisions actually stick versus bounce apart.
Paddle speed (G) — faster rotation raises shear-driven collision frequency near the shaft, but very high G near a large floc can also shear it apart.
Raw turbidity — starting floc count; drag the camera to orbit the tank and watch the sludge bed build up at the floor.

Real-world relevance: this is the geometry of an actual flocculation basin — paddle mixers ahead of a clarifier — rather than the flat jar-test cross-section shown in the 2D version.

Charged colloid Neutralized colloid Growing floc Settled sludge

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