Methods for flocculating solid particles in a provided suspension including specifying a target charge density of the suspension at which the solid particles flocculate; providing a flocculant having a charge density; determining, at a plurality of measuring times, the suspension charge density present in the suspension in the course of a titrimetric analysis, measuring the flow potential; determining, at respective of the measuring times, a quantity of the flocculant needing to be added to ensure optimal flocculation based on the target charge density, the flocculant charge density, and the suspension charge density present at the respective measuring time; and subsequently adding the determined quantity of flocculant into the suspension; and systems therefor. The methods and systems can provide the actual demand of flocculant needed for efficient flocculation in a continuous flocculation method of a suspension.

The present invention discloses an oil-contained wastewater treatment apparatus applying the integrative physical methods. The wastewater treatment system of the invention may include a main tank, where the upper part is a rectangular body and the lower part is designed to a multi-bucket bottom structure. Two oil collection boxes are arranged to both outside ends of tank. A mud discharging outlet is attached to the bottom of the tank. Meanwhile, both of a water outlet and an electric polarizer are localized at the end face of the effluent on the tank. A power supply for the electro-adsorber is fixed to the inlet end on the top face of the tank. Divided by upper and lower deflectors, the inside of the tank is divided to three processing units, i.e., sludge-water separation unit, degradation-coalescence treatment unit, and sedimentation-electric polarization unit. Vortex centripetal gas flotation is applied to remove oil. Electro-adsorption induces the micelle clustering to achieve the decolorization. The electric polarization functions as anti-scaling, descaling, sterilization, and corrosion inhibition. Moreover, the referred physical treatment can be fulfilled in virtue of centrifugal force, buoyancy, gravity, adsorption force, coalescence force, inertia, shifting, and modification. Through the application of the system, the oil-contained wastewater can be treated environmentally friendly, safe and pollution-free. Besides the above advantages, high removal efficiency can make the apparatus and method a widely used approach on the oil-contained wastewater treatment.

Methods and systems for treating oil sands tailings streams at an elevated pH using lime are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the method comprises providing a tailings stream including 10-55% solids by total weight, increasing the pH of the tailings stream by combining the tailings stream with lime to produce a lime-tailings mixture having a pH of at least 11.0, and dewatering the lime-tailings mixture to produce a first stream having 10% or less solids by total weight and a second stream having 50% or more solids by total weight. The first stream can correspond to a release water stream, and the second stream can correspond to a cake. The lime slurry can include about 10% lime by total weight, and can comprise lime hydrate, quicklime, or a combination thereof. Dewatering the lime-tailings mixture can include routing the lime-tailings mixture to a centrifuge unit and/or a pressure or vacuum filtration unit.

Methods and systems for treating oil sands tailings streams at an elevated pH using lime are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the method comprises providing a tailings stream including 10-55% solids by total weight, increasing the pH of the tailings stream by combining the tailings stream with lime to produce a lime-tailings mixture having a pH of at least 11.0, and dewatering the lime-tailings mixture to produce a first stream having 10% or less solids by total weight and a second stream having 50% or more solids by total weight. The first stream can correspond to a release water stream, and the second stream can correspond to a cake. The lime slurry can include about 10% lime by total weight, and can comprise lime hydrate, quicklime, or a combination thereof. Dewatering the lime-tailings mixture can include routing the lime-tailings mixture to a centrifuge unit and/or a pressure or vacuum filtration unit.

A processing method for perennially and deeply polluted sludge containing oils and water, waste residues, or oil sands in natural oil mines, and a processing system thereof. In the method, a solid substance containing oils and water is in full contact with an organic liquid solvent with a low boiling point and a weak polarity or no polarity at room temperature under pressurized condition to extract oil and water from the solid substance to the liquid, the organic solvent with low boiling point and low latent heat is easily separated from oil and water in the liquid after solid-liquid separation by decompression or heating evaporation, the gas solvent is compressed and condensed for recycling, the extracted oil and water are subjected to oil-water separation, and the extracted oil may be used as fuel or used for refining.

Provided is a wastewater treatment system. The wastewater treatment system includes an equalization (EQ) tank which receives contaminated wastewater having a high nutrient content from a plant, a dissolved air flotation (DAF) system and an on-site oxygen generation system which provides gas phase oxygen to the wastewater treated in the equalization (EQ) tank and/or the dissolved air flotation (DAF) system. The dissolved air flotation system includes at least one air dissolved air flotation vessel which may house an aerator grid assembly having a perforated lateral diffuser and optionally, a primary aerator assembly.

An extraction manifold for extracting digestate from a covered lagoon digester includes a digester vessel being shaped generally as a rectangular prism lacking an upward facing face and having a floor sloping generally downward from an intake face to an extraction face of the digester vessel. The intake face and extraction face are oriented vertically, situated in opposed relation on a longer horizontal axis. Each effluent pipe terminates in an extraction nozzle on one end and an independently addressable actuatable valve on the opposite end. Each actuatable valve communicates with a manifold plenum such that actuation of the valve draws digestate from the floor in a region of the floor adjacent to the extraction face and in proximity to the extraction nozzle. A valve controller actuates valves to remove digestate from the region of the floor adjacent to the extraction face. The valve controller includes sensors to monitor biogas production.

A system for converting biosolids to fertilizer comprising: a storage tank for holding biosolids; a conveyor operably connected to the storage tank for conveying the biosolids from the storage tank to a pressurized screener, wherein the pressurized screener selectively eliminates unwanted debris from the biosolids; a second conveyor operably connected to the pressurized screener to convey the biosolids to a centrifuge, the centrifuge operatively configured to remove water from the biosolids; a third conveyor operably connected to the centrifuge to convey the biosolids to a feeding chamber, a self-leveling conveyer position in the feeding chamber configured to deliver the biosolids to a nip feeder operatively positioned in the feeding chamber to selectively biosolids from the feeding chamber to a nip, wherein the nip is a gap between a first and second dryer drums; the first and second dryer drums operatively positioned to rotate and draw biosolids from the nip feeder into the nip, wherein a first and second scrapers are operably positioned to remove biosolids from the first and second dryer drums as they rotate, wherein the first and second dryer drums are selectively heated with steam provided by a boiler; a fourth conveyor positioned underneath the dryer drums to collect the biosolids after they pass through the nip and to convey the biosolids to a pelletizer configured to form the biosolids into pellets; a fifth conveyor operably connected to the pelletizer to convey the pellets to a cooling chamber.

A system for converting biosolids to fertilizer comprising: a storage tank for holding biosolids; a conveyor operably connected to the storage tank for conveying the biosolids from the storage tank to a pressurized screener, wherein the pressurized screener selectively eliminates unwanted debris from the biosolids; a second conveyor operably connected to the pressurized screener to convey the biosolids to a centrifuge, the centrifuge operatively configured to remove water from the biosolids; a third conveyor operably connected to the centrifuge to convey the biosolids to a feeding chamber, a self-leveling conveyer position in the feeding chamber configured to deliver the biosolids to a nip feeder operatively positioned in the feeding chamber to selectively biosolids from the feeding chamber to a nip, wherein the nip is a gap between a first and second dryer drums; the first and second dryer drums operatively positioned to rotate and draw biosolids from the nip feeder into the nip, wherein a first and second scrapers are operably positioned to remove biosolids from the first and second dryer drums as they rotate, wherein the first and second dryer drums are selectively heated with steam provided by a boiler; a fourth conveyor positioned underneath the dryer drums to collect the biosolids after they pass through the nip and to convey the biosolids to a pelletizer configured to form the biosolids into pellets; a fifth conveyor operably connected to the pelletizer to convey the pellets to a cooling chamber.

A frac sand separator system includes a sand separator having an inlet fluidly connected to a well for receiving a fracking return mixture from the well. The sand separator is configured to separate water of the fracking return mixture from particulate matter of the fracking return mixture. The sand separator includes an outlet. The frac sand separator system includes a collection container fluidly connected to the outlet of the sand separator for receiving the particulate matter from the sand separator. At least one outlet valve is fluidly connected between the outlet of the sand separator and the collection container. The frac sand separator system includes a computing device operatively connected to the at least one outlet valve. The computing device includes a processor configured to automatically open the at least one outlet valve such that the particulate matter is released from the sand separator into the collection container.