A flotation process for recovering feldspar from a feldspar containing feed material is disclosed. The process includes forming an aqueous suspension of a feldspar containing feed material, in the absence of hydrofluoric acid, wherein the suspension includes from 0.004 to 0.3% wt. of a flotation reagent including: (a) one or more amines, containing at least one aliphatic hydrocarbon chain, linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated, including 8 to 50 carbon atoms, or a salt thereof; and (b) one or more primary, secondary or tertiary alcohols, containing at least one aliphatic hydrocarbon chain, linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated, including 8 to 50 carbon atoms; the ratio of (a) to (b) ranging from 500:1 to 1:40 by weight. The process further includes agitating the obtained suspension to produce a feldspar containing fraction, and separating the feldspar containing fraction.

A multi-stage can washer includes a water treatment system structured to receive contaminated water from the skimming trough corresponding to a last feed tank, to clean the contaminated water, and to provide the cleaned water to a first one of the one or more feed tanks. The water treatment system includes a pressure vessel structured to mix ozone or air with the contaminated water to create gaseous water, a frothing cell structured to cause bubbles to form in the gaseous water to form a froth, to skim off and dispose of the froth, to degas the gaseous water to remove remaining gases, and to output degassed water, and a filtration system structured to receive the degassed water, to filter solid particles from the degassed water to form cleaned water, and to provide the cleaned water to the first feed tank.

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for minimizing froth drop back in a flotation cell undergoing froth flotation. The flotation cell has a slurry phase, a froth phase and a froth/slurry interface. Water is injected into the flotation cell at a position beneath the froth/slurry interface.

A method for separating a second fluid or a particulate from a host fluid is disclosed. The method includes flowing the mixture through an acoustophoretic device comprising an acoustic chamber, an ultrasonic transducer, and a reflector. The transducer includes a piezoelectric material driven by a voltage signal to create a multi-dimensional acoustic standing wave in the acoustic chamber. A voltage signal is sent to drive the ultrasonic transducer in a displacement profile that is a superposition of a combination of different mode shapes that are the same order of magnitude to create the multi-dimensional acoustic standing wave in the acoustic chamber such that the second fluid or particulate is continuously trapped in the standing wave, and then agglomerates, aggregates, clumps, or coalesces together, and subsequently rises or settles out of the host fluid due to buoyancy or gravity forces, and exits the acoustic chamber.

Cationic reverse flotation methods, systems, and processes for producing a marketable iron oxide concentrate from an iron oxide mineral slurry (treatment slurry), wherein the iron oxide content of the concentrate is greater than the iron oxide content of the treatment slurry, include introducing the treatment slurry into a flotation cell, together with a collector, a frother and optionally an iron oxide depressant, and recovering two flow streams from the flotation cell, namely a froth fraction (also referred to as a flotation tail fraction) and a sink material fraction (also referred to as the flotation concentrate), wherein the treatment slurry in the flotation cell is maintained at a Natural pH.

An ultrafine bubble cleaning apparatus uses a liquid containing ultrafine bubbles having a size of less than 30 nm to rinse fine particles adhered to soil, sand, etc. to separate and collect the fine particles. The ultrafine bubble cleaning apparatus includes a water tank-shaped reservoir, a stirring device, a supernatant discharge device including a pump for discharging a supernatant of the liquid in the reservoir, and a sedimentation extraction device. Substances are loaded into the ultrafine bubble-containing liquid stored in the reservoir, and the ultrafine bubble-containing liquid is repeatedly brought into contact with the surface of the substance using the stirring device. When ultrafine bubbles get into a space between fine metal particles adhered to the surfaces, cracks, and pits of the substances to be cleaned (including metal ions) and fine particles of organic substances including a solvent, a chemical, and oil, the fine particles are separated and floated.

A method of separating heavy water from normal through application of acoustic pressure shock waves to a fluid including heavy water and normal water and recovering separated normal water.

A method and system of treatment of agricultural and industrial wastewaters that contain high concentrations of suspended solids, nitrogen, and phosphorus compounds is disclosed. The method and system includes pre-treating the wastewater, controlling the amount of coagulants used, and controlling the mean velocity used for mixing, surface loading rate, and solids loading rate. The method and system functions as a sedimentation unit and gas flotation unit (solid/liquid separator). The pH of the effluent wastewater is stabilized within the separator by ensuring that there is sufficient alkalinity to buffer the wastewater. Sufficient gas is produced in the coagulation reactions to float and concentrate the solids, which results in as high as 99 percent reduction in suspended solids, a 96 percent reduction of the phosphorus concentration, and a 50 percent reduction of the nitrogen concentration in the effluent from the separator.

A method of desalinating water through application of acoustic pressure shock waves to a slush to separate ice crystals from brine and recovering desalinated water from the separated ice crystals.

Acoustic pressure shock waves are applied to a membrane in a fluid to prevent attachment of or dislodge biological or solid matter for membrane cleaning or desalination with a membrane.