THE SHEAR SENSITIVITY OF ACTIVATED SLUDGE : AN EVALUATION OF THE POSSIBILITY FOR A STANDARDISED FLOC STRENGTH TEST

Floc strength was quantified in terms of the shear sensitivity as a standardised parameter based on the recent adhesion - erosion model. The shear sensitivity quantifies the degree of dispersion for low total solids contents and intermediate turbulent shear rates. It reflects the affinity of adhesion/erosion of primary particles to and from flocs and thus provides a means of characterising the interaction energy between the sludge colloids.