Flocculants and Coagulants Market to Witness 5.4% CAGR

Because of rapid industrialization and urbanization all across the globe, environmental problems have increased as well. A major concern today is the declining quality of the water supply. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1.1 billion people around the world don’t have access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion people experience inadequate sanitation supplies, which has been the cause of death of about 3,900 children on a daily basis. Attributed to this, there is pressing need for advanced water treatment resources, owing to which, the demand for flocculants and coagulants is growing.

Between flocculants and coagulants, the demand for flocculants was higher in the past, which is ascribed to the fact that the flocculation process makes separation or filtration of solids from liquids easy. During the process, the solution is gently mixed so that small clumps, which are formed during coagulation, agglomerate together to from larger clumps. These clumps can then be easily separated with ease, as they settle down without any difficulty. Types of flocculants are non-ionic, anionic, and cationic, among which, the demand for cationic flocculants is expected to grow substantially in the coming years.

These chemicals are widely being utilized in the food & beverage industry to treat wastewater and in mining applications. Inorganic and organic are two types of coagulants, between which, the demand for inorganic coagulants was higher. This can be attributed to the wide applicability and low cost of these chemicals. Other than water and wastewater treatment, flocculants and coagulants also find applications in pulp & paper, oil & gas, and mineral & extraction sectors. The largest demand for these chemicals in the past was created for water and wastewater treatment applications. This is owing to the strict government regulations about the usage of water for public health.

Geographically, Asia-Pacific has been the largest flocculants and coagulants market up till now, which can be primarily due to the surging demand for these chemicals from rapidly growing chemical industries, swift economic growth, and high industrial output in the region. In addition to this, growth of industries including oil & gas, food & beverages, and metal, which make wide usage of flocculants and coagulants, is further driving their demand across the region.

Flocculants and coagulants aid the separation of dispersed granules in any solution. These tiny particles must be separated inside any solution based on their relative sizes and charges. Flocculants and Coagulants are utilized to remove suspended particles based on the colloids in any solution.

The substances employed during procedures for softening lime, thickening sludge, removing particulates, and clarifying water. To separate particles from the solution, flocculants operate to clump them together and agglomerate them.

There are two types of flocculants: anionic and cationic flocculants. Colloidal clays, activated silica, metallic hydroxides, and other flocculants are some flocculants used to treat water. On the other side, coagulants are employed to neutralize negatively charged particles.

These Coagulants are used to treat water because they include positively charged particles that, when combined with the solution, neutralize it. To treat water, both inorganic and organic coagulants are employed. Both are employed on occasion, as well as on an individual basis.

Why Are Coagulants and Flocculants Needed?

The growing need for clean water drives the high requirement for flocculants and coagulants. The fast development and urbanization brought on by the expanding population directly affect the water quality.

About 2.6 billion people have insufficient sanitation resources, and almost 1.1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water globally, as per the U.S. EPA. Around 3,900 children per day die from waterborne infections brought on by poor sanitation.

A significant danger to the sector's expansion is improved water treatment technologies, such as membrane filtration, two-stage, biological, high-pressure membranes, advanced oxidation, ion exchange, and UV irradiation.

Similar techniques include wetlands, aerobic treatment, integrated treatment, fixed biofilm reactors, granular activated carbon, oil-water separator processing of oily effluents, electro-sorption, and adsorption technology.

Oil and gas facilities primarily employ coagulation and flocculation when processing chemical products. Recent advancements in molecular design provide new possibilities as the mining industry's requirements for extracting solid particles from fluids increase.

To maintain dependable, effective, and sustainable operations inside these facilities, efficient treatment techniques have become more crucial due to the lack of safe water in refineries and chemical plants.

Things that Coagulation and Flocculation Remove from Wastewater?

Many organic substances and dispersed particles, such as inorganic precipitates, are removed by coagulation and flocculation. Although the procedure eliminates particles and dissolved materials, pathogens like viruses and bacteria may still be present in the water. In general, coagulation and flocculation only eliminate pathogens connected to the dissolved materials they are removing.

Coagulation and flocculation eliminate several pollutants that make it difficult to disinfect water, which is the first stage in treating wastewater and converting it into drinkable water. Because of coagulation and flocculation, less chlorine is required to disinfect the water. Additionally, using less chlorine improves water safety and saves money.

Conclusion

Flocculation and coagulation are two distinct but equally important steps in treating water and waste. By neutralizing static charges, coagulation destabilizes the tiny suspended particles, whereas flocculation aids their association to form much larger morphologies that enable easier separation from the liquid phase.

In conclusion, the declining quality of water supply because of swift urbanization and industries is resulting in the rising demand for flocculants and coagulants around the globe.