Processes for the separation of water from a mixture of water with other components, comprising the following steps: A) providing feed material FM comprising water and at least one a nonionic surfactant S in an amount of 0.1 to 1000 ppm by weight based on the feed material FM, B) subjecting said feed material FM to a distillation step using a falling film evaporator.

A method is disclosed for dewatering of sludge from a pulp, paper or board making process, such as deinking sludge, including obtaining of an aqueous sludge including an aqueous phase and a fibre material suspended in the aqueous phase. The sludge is subjected to a pre-thickening step, where a first part of the aqueous phase is removed from the sludge and to a pressing step, where a second part of the aqueous phase is removed from the sludge, thereby obtaining a dry pressed sludge. Before or at the pre-thickening step a polymer composition having a charge density of at the most 1.7 meq/g, preferably at most 1.5 meq/g, more preferably at most 1.1 meq/g, is added to the sludge.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a treatment method by which, even for wastewater with organic constituents constituting a large portion of organic wastewater as a whole and suspended solids (SS) and with a large negative charge ratio, organic nitrogen constituents and phosphorus compounds can be efficiently separated and collected and good-quality separated water can be obtained by reducing the quantity of SS, BOD, COD, and nitrogen constituents in the separated water. Provided is a treatment method for organic waste water, in which a flock is formed by adding a polymer flocculant to organic waste water with organic nitrogen constituent content in relation to suspended solids (SS) being 4-50%/SS and organic nitrogen constituent content being 250-50,000 mg/L, and thereafter, the flock is separated from the organic wastewater by solid-liquid separation.

The present invention provides improved methods for purifying and/or removing multiply charged cations and suspended solids from water. In particular the process relates to an additive composition that has the appropriate surfactant characteristics for effectively removing multiply charged cations and suspended solids from an aqueous or oil/aqueous mixed phase via foam fractionation. According to the invention, a hydrophobically modified polymer that acts as an associative thickener is used in the presence of a source of alkalinity or anionic reactant as well as surfactant in appropriate ratios to facilitate multiply charged cation and suspended solids removal for water purification in any of a number of commercial, environmental and industrial applications.

A composition and method for reducing odors and cleaning packing media and other components in a wet air scrubber using nonionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants, and a source of humic acid. Preferred nonionic surfactants include regular and low foam nonionic surfactants. The source of humic acid is preferably organic peat humus. The treatment composition is added to water in the wet scrubber at a concentration of 50-1000 ppm. The treatment composition is a premixed composition in a single container, making it unnecessary to separately add ingredients to the water. The treatment composition is effective at reducing odors by at least 50% compared to no treatment. The treatment composition is also effective at significantly reducing foam levels, making it unnecessary to add a separate defoamer to the water being treated. The treatment composition does not need to use defoamers, enzymes, oxidizers, chlorine compounds, or strong acids to be effective.

A method is provided for recovering fractions from an animal rendering process wastewater stream, wherein the fractions include one or more of fat, oil, grease, and protein derived from an animal source. To recover the fractions, the wastewater stream is processed to separate insoluble or immiscible contaminants as collected skimmings, and treating the collected skimmings with an effective amount of a nonionic demulsifying surfactant.

A flocculation control system that floats particles that attach to nano and/or micro bubbles out of a liquid includes at least one sensing system, at least one processing system, and at least one fluid additive control system. The at least one sensing system is configured to reproduce one or more nano-bubbles with one or more particles suspended in a fluid. The at least one processing system is configured to measure, using outputs of the at least one sensing system, incident angles between the one or more nano-bubbles and the one or more particles suspended in the fluid. And the at least one fluid additive control system is configured to adjust, based on at least the incident angles, an amount of a surfactant being added to the fluid.

A flocculation control system that floats particles that attach to nano and/or micro bubbles out of a liquid includes at least one sensing system, at least one processing system, and at least one fluid additive control system. The at least one sensing system is configured to reproduce one or more nano-bubbles with one or more particles suspended in a fluid. The at least one processing system is configured to measure, using outputs of the at least one sensing system, incident angles between the one or more nano-bubbles and the one or more particles suspended in the fluid. And the at least one fluid additive control system is configured to adjust, based on at least the incident angles, an amount of a surfactant being added to the fluid.

Surfactants capable of releasing and/or dissolving polymers to form water-soluble or water-dispersible polymer solutions are disclosed. In addition, polymer compositions containing a water-in-oil emulsion comprising the surfactant are provided and can be used, for example, in methods of dissolving a polymer. These surfactants and polymer compositions can be used in various industries including for water clarification, papermaking, sewage and industrial water treatment, drilling mud stabilizers, and enhanced oil recovery.

Methods are disclosed for reducing oil in water emulsions in coking processes. One exemplary method comprises: providing an aqueous stream with an oil in water emulsion; providing a treatment composition, wherein the treatment composition comprises at least one cationic polyacrylamide; and contacting the aqueous stream with the treatment composition.