Most of us know what DOCs in pond water is. The abbreviation stands for Dissolved Organic Compounds, or Dissolved Organic Carbon. Either term works, but I kind of prefer the later as it seems to fit what I'm seeing in the residue that builds up in the pipe in my Foam Fractionator. The foam fractionator is designed to remove DOCs from the pond water, it does this by creating foam which concentrates the DOCs and ejecting the foam through a ejection tube into a waste container or on to the ground. I have a thread somewhere in this forum about my foam fractionator, but I can't seem to find it, but here are a few pictures of what it looks like and the foam ejecting from it and the liquid rich in DOCs that accumulates after the foam settles.
As the foam forms the bubbles quickly break down and leaves concentrated DOCs, and a lot of the time this process happens so slowly the foam breaks down before it even leaves the ejector tube and the water evaporates leaving the residue to dry and concentrate in the tube. I cleaned this tube out after a couple years of these DOCs drying in the tube and this is what I got.
This is why I think the term Dissolved Organic Carbon fits so well, because that's basically what is left, black carbon.
And yes, it even burns.
Anyway, I'm fascinated by how this foam fractionator works so well at removing DOCs, I just thought I'd share.
As the foam forms the bubbles quickly break down and leaves concentrated DOCs, and a lot of the time this process happens so slowly the foam breaks down before it even leaves the ejector tube and the water evaporates leaving the residue to dry and concentrate in the tube. I cleaned this tube out after a couple years of these DOCs drying in the tube and this is what I got.
This is why I think the term Dissolved Organic Carbon fits so well, because that's basically what is left, black carbon.
And yes, it even burns.
Anyway, I'm fascinated by how this foam fractionator works so well at removing DOCs, I just thought I'd share.
