Sarthok Sircar, David M. Bortz
We present a mechanistic model for the adherence of two spherical flocs in quiescent flow conditions. Adhesion forces arise via the binding ligands as well as the attractive/repulsive surface potential in an ionic medium via the DLVO theory. The reversible binding kinetics are assumed to follow the standard model for linear springs \cite{Dembo1988}. The collision factor and the floc aggregate number density is studied as a function of various surface/fluid parameters. It is seen that large floc aggregates are possible with more tensile ligands due to efficient inter-floc collisions (measured via the collision factor). Our results quantify how fluid drag and strong electrolytic composition of the surrounding fluid favor floc formation as well.
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http://arxiv.org/abs/1301.2504
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