A method is disclosed for purifying, by direct osmosis, a first liquid including water and at least one impurity, in which the method comprises the consecutive steps of: contacting the first liquid with a first side of a semi-permeable membrane, a second aqueous liquid containing an osmotic agent being in contact with the second side of the semi-permeable membrane, whereby water is extracted by direct osmosis from the first liquid through the semi-permeable membrane and passes into the second liquid containing the osmotic agent; forming clathrates hydrates of a host molecule in the second liquid containing the osmotic agent into which the water has passed; separating the clathrates hydrates from the second liquid containing the osmotic agent; and dissociating the separated clathrates hydrates to obtain pure water and the host molecule.

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.

A sulphur denitrification system includes a liquid input fluidly coupled to a source of saltwater that includes nitrate; a liquid output fluidly coupled to the source of saltwater; a plurality of vertically-oriented tanks, at least one of the tanks including a liquid inlet that is fluidly coupled to the liquid input to receive a flow of the saltwater, a volume configured to enclose a plurality of sulphur particles that support denitrification bacteria that biologically transform the nitrate into at least one of nitrous oxide or nitrogen gas, and a liquid outlet fluidly coupled to the liquid output and the liquid inlets of the tanks; and a circulation system configured to circulate a portion of the saltwater though the liquid input to the liquid inlets of the plurality of tanks, through the plurality of tanks, and from the liquid outlets of the tanks to the liquid output and the liquid inlets of the tanks.

A method and crystallizer for treating produced water through the steps of feeding produced water to a porous pipe in a chamber wherein the chamber is cylindrically shaped having an interior wall with a top and a bottom; feeding gaseous nitrogen to a nozzle present in the chamber, which is in fluid communication with an interior pipe; feeding the produced water to the interior pipe wherein slush is formed in the pipe and this slush is forced through the interior pipe to the top of the chamber; operating at least one scraper which is mounted circumferentially about the porous pipe and having arms that extend outwardly from the scraper center in contact with the interior wall of the chamber wherein the scraper will remove salt crystals from the interior walls of the chamber; recovering salt crystals from the bottom of the chamber; and recovering fresh water from the chamber.

The present disclosure provides uses and methods for using compositions comprising a tetrabrachion protein from Staphylothermus marinus or a fragment thereof for detecting and/or recovering a chemical element from a solution or a suspension. The fragment of the tetrabrachion protein includes the right handed coiled coil (RHCC).

Described herein is combination of flocculants for flocculating fines solids in a suspension thereof. The combination includes: (a) an anionic polymer flocculant, and (b) a charged particle-polymer hybrid flocculant that includes charged core particles having an average size between about 150 nm and about 800 nm and each having a polymer polymerized thereon. The anionic polymer flocculant is to be added before, or at substantially the same time as, the charged particle-polymer hybrid flocculant.

The present disclosure relates to methods of treating water to remove contaminants, including harmful metal ions, and water treatment plants for practicing such methods. In an embodiment, the process includes adding a sulfur-containing, metal-decreasing agent; an iron (III)-containing, metalloid-decreasing agent; forming a solid precipitate from the contaminated water, wherein the solid precipitate includes a solid metal sulfide, a solid iron metalloid, a solid calcium metalloid, or a combination thereof; and separating the contaminated water from the solid precipitate to form purified water.

The invention relates to a method for regenerating a bed of adsorbent medium in an adsorption reactor, implemented in a fluid treatment unit, said bed of adsorbent medium prior to regeneration being a fresh adsorbent medium, said regeneration method comprising at least one chemical regeneration step wherein the bed of adsorbent medium is brought into contact with a regeneration solution, said bed of fresh adsorbent medium being characterized in that: it has an actual reduction rate of at least one target pollutant ranging from 40% to 80%, and/or the bed volume treated by said adsorbent medium is from 20,000 to 100,000 BVT, preferably from 30,000 to 75,000 BVT, more preferably from 40,000 to 60,000 BVT, and/or it has an iodine value ranging from 500 to 800 mg/g. The invention also relates to a fluid-treatment method implementing said regeneration method, as well as to a fluid-treatment plant suitable for carrying out the fluid-treatment method according to the invention.

A method for desalinating a brine includes the use of a cooled intermediate-cold-liquid (ICL), which combines with the brine in a crystallization or freezing tank to produce a slurry of ice, brine, and ICL. The method includes steps for separating the ICL, ice and brine, and returning the separated ICL to the source of cooled ICL tank. The method concludes with the steps of passing the separated brine to the crystallization tank, and melting the separated ice to form desalinated water. The method is significant in that it produces desalinated liquid water and solid salts. The combination of superior heat transfer with high quality purified water and competitive desalination economy makes the disclosed freeze desalination technology an attractive solution for desalination of highly concentrated brines produced in a variety of industries, including but not limited to the oil and gas industry and reject brine management.

An antifouling dispersant composition having an alcohol polyoxyethylene (EO) ether (EO number 1-14), represented by the general formula

##STR00001##

wherein R is an alkyl with about 3-20 carbon atoms; and n is 1-14.