An oil or gas recovery process (10) is disclosed where resulting produced water includes silica. The process entails removing silica from the produced water via a two-stage process. In the first stage, magnesium oxide is injected into a Magnesium Dissolution Reactor (18) and mixed with the produced water to dissolve magnesium. Effluent from the Magnesium Dissolution Reactor (18) is directed downstream to a warm lime softener (22) where one or more alkaline chemicals are added to the produced water to raise the pH to approximately 10.0 to 11.5. Here, silica is co-precipitated with magnesium hydroxide and/or adsorbed onto magnesium hydroxide precipitates.

An apparatus for treating a stream of contaminated water having an elevated concentration of at least one of light metals, heavy metals, sulfates that includes at least one process fluid inlet communicating with a process conduit; at least one electrode reaction vessel in fluid communication with the process conduit, the reaction vessel having an interior chamber and at least one electrode positioned in the reaction chamber, the electrode powered by a alternating current source; and at least one magnetic field reaction vessel in fluid communication with the process conduit, the magnetic field reaction vessel having an outwardly oriented surface and an opposed inwardly oriented surface, the magnetic field reaction vessel having at least one magnet in contact with the inwardly oriented surface of the magnetic field reaction vessel.

Method and apparatus pertaining to the production of hydrogen sulfide using sodium salts recycle. Sodium sulfate is reacted with a carbon containing stream to produce sodium sulfide and carbon dioxide. The sodium sulfide is blended with elemental sulfur and water. The blend is subjected to elevated temperatures and pressures to result in the production of hydrogen sulfide and sodium sulfate. A mixing apparatus, such as a bubble column reactor, has been found to be especially useful. The hydrogen sulfide can be used for removing metal from effluents.

Organo clay and activated carbon are mixed to form a particle mixture. The particle mixture is contacted with waste water having chlorides and other contaminants, such as organic materials, heavy metals, chlorides, and low level radio nuclei in solution. Acids, oxidizing chemicals, and compressed air are added to pretreat and to treat the waste water. The mixture is filtered with catalytic activated carbon filters to remove the remaining contaminants. The filters produce a clean chloride solution that is discharged or is subjected to a finishing process to produce a marketable chloride product.

Wastewater sludge is treated by combining the sludge with a carbon-based dielectric additive that includes carbon to yield a modified sludge, irradiating the modified sludge with microwave radiation to yield a treated sludge, and providing the treated sludge to an anaerobic digester.

Glycine is an organic compound that can be used in the making of a synthetic acid that obviates all the drawbacks of strong acids such as hydrochloric acid. The new compound is made by dissolving glycine in water, in a weight ratio of approximately 1:1 to 1:1.5. The solution is mixed until the glycine is essentially fully dissolved in the water. Once dissolution is complete, hydrogen chloride gas is dissolved in the solution to produce the new compound, which can be referred to as hydrogen glycine. Also disclosed is a method for adjusting the pH of a fluid, the method comprising adding an effective amount of a solution to the fluid for adjusting the pH thereof to a desired level, wherein the solution is prepared by mixing glycine in water to form a glycine solution; and adding hydrogen chloride to the glycine solution.

An ice machine or ice maker is configured to produce ionized alkaline ice by having water pass through a medium which causes the water to become ionized. In certain embodiments, the medium contains group II elements, rare earth minerals, metal reducing agents, mineral buffers. The medium may be in a filter with the water passing through the filter to produce ionized alkaline water. The ionized alkaline water is then frozen by the ice machine or ice maker to produce ionized alkaline ice. Exposure of the water to magnetic forces may assist in the production of ionized alkaline water.

The present invention relates to the use of a supramolecular system in order to remove particles from a liquid medium containing same. According to the invention, the supramolecular system includes at least one molecule having a low molecular weight and/or an organic compound from living organisms, preferably from jellyfish, said compound being selected from among collagen, a polysaccharide, a proteoglycan or a mixture of two of said organic compounds, and said molecule having a low molecular weight and formula (I) as defined herein. The invention also relates to a method for removing particles from a liquid medium containing same. The invention is particularly suitable for use in water decontamination and biotechnology.

A water purification system comprises a bioreaction subsystem receiving contaminated input effluent and having a gas-lift anaerobic membrane bioreactor removing urea and organic matter to create a first effluent. A light-treatment subsystem receives the first effluent and exposes the first effluent to UV light to create a second effluent free from microorganisms. A reactor subsystem fluidically connects an ammonia-reducing reactor to the UV output and receives UV-treated second effluent and has a struvite regenerator connected to the ammonia-reducing reactor output, separating ammonia from the second effluent in the ammonia-reducing reactor, and outputting the ammonia. A separation subsystem fluidically connects to the reactor output and receives the second effluent substantially free from ammonia and has a continuous electro-deionization device separating brine/salts from the second effluent to produce potable water. A closed-loop includes an ammonia-converting subsystem and a sequential fertilizer producer.

An activating agent for the treatment of radioactive wastewater. The activating agent is prepared by dissolving a mixture of inorganic salts including Ca.sup.2+, Na.sup.+, Sr.sup.2+, Zn.sup.2+, Mg.sup.2+, Fe.sup.2+ and K.sup.+ in pure water having an electrical resistivity greater than 0.5 M.Math.cm to yield a solution. A method of radioactive wastewater treatment using the activating agent includes: 1) preparing the activating agent; 2) adding the activating agent to radioactive wastewater having an electrical resistivity greater than 0.5 M.Math.cm; uniformly mixing the activating agent and the radioactive wastewater; 3) further treating the radioactive wastewater including the activating agent using an electro-deionization device; and 4) collecting two liquid flows obtained in 3), one being purified water, the other being concentrated water returning to 2) for further purification.