Multiple site purification can be achieved by a small plastic portable voltaic inspissation unit in a box configuration. Each unit may feature an air hopper, a recirculation line, a gas diffuser, a centrifuge, a decanter, and multiple anodic and cathodic voltaic inspissation plates that may direct fluid through a box in a meandering or serpentine fashion. Multiple devices may be present or omitted, and retention times may be varied both by the presence or absence of recirculation and the flow rate accomplished by use of different metal in the plates depending on purification goals. Air may be injected interstitially prior to passage into the box to aid in purification, and ultimately both ease of transport and substantially improved purification percentages may be achieved relative to prior systems.

Systems and methods for separating components from a fluid stream are described. The systems and methods described herein may be specifically well suited for separating solids, hydrocarbons, chemicals, non-evaporable components, etc., from wastewater produced by oil and gas recovery. The systems and methods may generally include the use of a heat exchanger through which a fluid stream is passed to thereby evaporate some or all of the fluid stream. The heated stream exiting the heat exchanger may include vapor, liquids and/or solids. This heated stream is then subjected to phase separation to separate a vapor stream from a liquid/solids stream. The vapor stream is then transported back to the heat exchanger where it is used to transfer heat from the vapor stream to the fluid stream. During the operation of the heat exchanger, a scraping system may be used to scrape the one or more surfaces of the passage through which the fluid stream flows in order to prevent buildup of solids and liquids thereon.

The present invention belongs to the technical field of hydrate application, and proposes an electric field-based CO.sub.2 capture apparatus by a hydrate method and a method therefor. Small particles of hydrate are generated by incoming seawater and incoming hydrate former at low temperature and high pressure. After flowing through the electric field, the particles are quickly formed, and then separated, dried and compressed efficiently by a solid-liquid separation chamber. Finally, hydrate blocks are produced. The combination of a stirring method, a spraying method and an external electric field can effectively solve the characteristics of slow hydrate formation and long cycle. The solid-liquid separation chamber can be designed to efficiently filter out the hydrate particles and prevent a filter plate from blocking. The use of heat exchange chambers in many places make the cooling amount in the discharged waste recycled, greatly thereby improving the utilization efficiency of energy and economic benefits.

A device is disclosed for extracting water from a fluid medium. The water extracting device comprises a primary channel and a quantity of a light-activated, stimulus responsive polymer (SRP) supported on a carrier within the primary channel. The SRP is capable of absorbing a quantity of water from the medium in a first state and releasing the water in a second state and vice versa. An illumination arrangement allows selective exposure of the SRP within the primary channel to electromagnetic radiation to switch the SRP between the first state and the second state whereby water absorbed by the SRP is released. Also disclosed is a method and device for conducting heat from the primary channel to a secondary channel, adjacent to and in heat conducting relation with the primary channel.

An Electrochemical Nitrogen Generator System and Method. The system and method provide the ability to create a nitrogen-rich environment in containers of a variety of sizes. The system and method are able to extract the oxygen from the air within the container without reducing the internal pressure substantially below atmospheric. A version of the method is provided to reduce the oxygen content and replace it with nitrogen through a series of sequential fractional steps. In another form, the system and method will provide a streaming approach of bleeding off oxygen-containing contents of the container, while continuously replacing it with air until such time as the percentage of oxygen within the container is below the desired level. In yet another version, the system and method operate under pressure, thereby injecting pressurized air, either in sequential fractional steps or via continuous flow, whereby at the end of the process, the internal contents of the container are in a pressurized nitrogen environment, and the air expelled from the container during the process is also under pressure.

Apparatus, methods, and systems are provided for treating oil-in-water emulsions by in situ production of magnetic FeO.sub.x nanoparticles.

Multiple site purification can be achieved by a small plastic portable voltaic inspissation unit in a box configuration. Each unit may feature an air hopper, a recirculation line, a gas diffuser, a centrifuge, a decanter, and multiple anodic and cathodic voltaic inspissation plates that may direct fluid through a box in a meandering or serpentine fashion. Multiple devices may be present or omitted, and retention times may be varied both by the presence or absence of recirculation and the flow rate accomplished by use of different metal in the plates depending on purification goals. Air may be injected interstitially prior to passage into the box to aid in purification, and ultimately both ease of transport and substantially improved purification percentages may be achieved relative to prior systems.

The abatement apparatus includes a porous element at least partially defining a treatment chamber and through which treatment materials pass for introduction into the treatment chamber for treatment of an effluent gas stream; and an infra-red heating device operable to emit infra-red energy to heat the porous element which heats the treatment materials as they pass through the porous element into the treatment chamber. In this way, infra-red energy, rather than combustion, can be used to raise the temperature within the treatment chamber in order to treat the effluent gas stream. This allows the apparatus to be used in environments where no fuel gas exists or where the provision of fuel gas is considered undesirable. Also, heating the treatment materials as they pass through the porous sleeve, rather than simply using radiant heat to heat the treatment chamber enables significantly more energy to be imparted into the treatment materials.

A separator device is provided for removing particles from suspension in a fluid comprises a housing having first and second ports for ingress and egress of fluid into and out of the housing, the first and second ports being on the same vertical line; and at least one separation chamber for separating solid particles from the fluid.

A humidity controlling apparatus comprises: a moisture absorbent (1) made of a macromolecular gelated moisture absorbing material which takes a first state being capable of absorbing moisture and a second state releasing in a liquid state the moisture absorbed in the first state, and which has a nature to change from the first state to the second state when a definite level of temperature or higher is attained, and return to the first state when the definite level of temperature or higher is no longer attained; and an energy converting particle (2) which is disposed so as to be buried inside the moisture absorbent and has a nature to generate heat when it is exposed to an external stimulus factor which is at least one of light, electric waves and a high frequency magnetic field.