ABS Flocculation Ball · Technical Reference & Specifications

Construction and Material

The ABS flocculation ball is a hollow sphere assembled from two identical hemispherical shells. Each shell is moulded from radial and circumferential ribs; where those ribs meet, they enclose a regular pattern of through-openings that carry the water across the shell wall. The two halves are joined on the cut edge by claws and stiffening ribs, which is what holds the sphere together under load without any internal frame.

The body is injection-moulded in ABS engineering plastic. ABS is chemically stable, resists acid and alkali attack, tolerates both high and low service temperatures, and does not dissolve into the treated water — so the ball does not add anything to the process stream. The finished surface is smooth with no burrs, and the ball needs no fixing devices, support frames or anchors of any kind.

Working Principle

Micro-vortex formation

As water crosses the openings in the shell wall, the flow is cut and disturbed twice within a short distance, and a dense field of micro-vortices forms around each opening. The velocity required for that vortex field is lower than the velocity a flat grid or baffle wall needs to create the same effect, so the water does not have to travel as far down the basin to build it. Shorter travel distance means less basin volume for the same reaction, and short-circuiting between inlet and outlet is reduced.

Contact flocculation

Inside the hollow sphere the flow slows down. Larger flocs settle into a suspended active sludge layer that is held inside the ball, and that layer adsorbs the finer flocs still in the water. The mechanism works the way a sludge-blanket clarifier does: flocs grow by contact with existing flocs rather than only by random collision, which raises floc density and makes the flocs settle faster and more completely.

Flow distribution

Because the balls are loose in the basin and have no preferred direction, the flow is broken up evenly over the whole cross-section instead of forming a few fast channels. Vertical height is not a constraint — the reaction section can be built taller or covered where the site area is tight, since the media themselves add no structural load to the basin.

Reference Parameters

Parameter	Value
Material	ABS engineering plastic — chemically stable, resistant to acid and alkali attack, no dissolution into the treated water
Structure	Two identical hemispherical shells joined at the equator; radial and circumferential ribs leave through-openings across the whole surface
Standard diameter	Φ100 mm / Φ200 mm — other diameters on request
Surface openings	Aperture > Φ30 mm; open area > 60%
Pouring density	Approx. 135 pcs per m³ at Φ200 mm
Fill ratio	5%–15% of the basin effective volume
Empty-bed velocity	60–360 m/h
Head loss	0.01–0.02 m/m
Reaction time	5–8 min; extend for low-turbidity, low-temperature water and for wastewater
Service temperature	−20 – 80 ℃
Wall thickness · unit mass · service life	On request
MOQ · price · export packing	On request — confirm quantity and destination port

Sizing, Filling and Operation

1. Fill ratio. Fill 5%–15% of the effective basin volume, adjusted for the turbidity and the mixing duty of the stage. At Φ200 mm this works out at roughly 135 balls per m³ of water.
2. Empty-bed velocity. Design the basin in the 60–360 m/h band. Take the higher value in the front section, where the coagulant is dispersing, and the lower value toward the outlet, where the flocs need to stop growing and start settling.
3. Filling. Pour the balls in evenly and leave them loose. No anchoring, no rope, no support grid. In upward flow the balls float and rotate with the water; they do not rise to the surface or seal the openings of the balls around them.
4. Chemistry. Coagulant and flocculant dosing is set by the jar test for the actual water, not by the media. The ball changes the hydraulic environment; the dose and the pH window still come from the treatment process.
5. Retrofits. Perforated swirling, baffle, folded-plate, corrugated-plate, grid and mechanical accelerated clarification basins can be converted by emptying the existing internals and filling the reaction volume with balls. No structural work is normally required, which keeps the shutdown short.
6. Maintenance. The balls do not scale or block easily. Remove and rinse them with clean water as part of the normal basin cleaning interval, and replace any ball that has been mechanically damaged.

Where It Is Used

• Municipal water supply plants and industrial water clarification
• Coagulation and flocculation basins, and contact clarifiers
• Wastewater from steel and metallurgy, chemical and petrochemical, pharmaceutical, textile and printing / dyeing, and papermaking plants
• Retrofit of existing flocculation basins and reaction chambers where the effluent quality or the throughput has to improve without adding basin volume

Notes on This Reference

The figures above are the values published for this product type. Diameter, wall thickness, unit mass, colour, service life and export packing are set per order — confirm them with our technical team against your process design before you size a basin. Price on request.