Provided is a biological treatment method and an apparatus that allow organic wastewater from a manufacturing process of electronic devices to be neutralized efficiently during its biological treatment with a less neutralizer in contrast to excessive use thereof in the conventional biological treatment and thereby make it possible to reduce an amount of an inorganic coagulant used in the downstream coagulation step and to reduce salt loads in RO membrane separation and ion exchange treatment. Wastewater from a process of manufacturing electronic devices is passed sequentially through two or more biological treatment tanks that include at least two aerobic biological treatment tanks including the final-stage aerobic biological treatment tank while adding a neutralizer to the biological treatment tank or tanks except the final-stage biological treatment tank so that an M-alkalinity of the liquid in the final-stage biological treatment tank is maintained at not more than 50 mg/L as CaCO.sub.3.

The present invention relates to a method for separating biomass from a solution comprising biomass and at least one oligosaccharide.comprising providing the solution comprising biomass and oligosaccharides.lowering the pH value of the solution below 7 by adding at least one acid to the solution comprising biomass and the at least one oligosaccharide. adding an adsorbing agent to the solution comprising biomass and oligosaccharides. and carrying out first membrane filtration so as to separate the biomass from the solution comprising the at least one oligosaccharide.

The invention comprises a control system for monitoring and operating an existing supply water pre-treatment system for supplying de-chlorinated water to dialysis purification systems. The invention includes a controller and an operator interface for programming and interacting with said control systems. The invention further includes an injection assembly having a flow turbine sensor, a reducing agent injector, and an ORP/pH sensor for monitoring and controlling ORP/pH levels of said supply water.

The invention comprises a control system for monitoring and operating an existing supply water pre-treatment system for supplying de-chlorinated water to dialysis purification systems. The invention includes a controller and an operator interface for programming and interacting with said control systems. The invention further includes an injection assembly having a flow turbine sensor, a reducing agent injector, and an ORP/pH sensor for monitoring and controlling ORP/pH levels of said supply water.

An electrochemical wastewater treatment system comprises a reactor tank, an electrochemical reactor and a separation device which filters the effluent stream from the reactor tank and generates a treated wastewater stream and a reject stream which is at least partially fed to the electrochemical reactor or to the reactor tank to thereby increase the concentration of selected soluble and insoluble compounds within the reactor. A portion of the reject stream or a portion of the wastewater in the reactor tank can be discharged as a blowdown stream. Flow control means are provided for adjusting the volume of the reject stream and of the blowdown stream for controlling the compounds concentration. The concentration of soluble and insoluble compounds in the reactor is therefore decoupled from the concentration of the compounds in the reactor effluent stream to achieve an improved reactor performance and a higher quality effluent.

An electrochemical wastewater treatment system comprises a reactor tank, an electrochemical reactor and a separation device which filters the effluent stream from the reactor tank and generates a treated wastewater stream and a reject stream which is at least partially fed to the electrochemical reactor or to the reactor tank to thereby increase the concentration of selected soluble and insoluble compounds within the reactor. A portion of the reject stream or a portion of the wastewater in the reactor tank can be discharged as a blowdown stream. Flow control means are provided for adjusting the volume of the reject stream and of the blowdown stream for controlling the compounds concentration. The concentration of soluble and insoluble compounds in the reactor is therefore decoupled from the concentration of the compounds in the reactor effluent stream to achieve an improved reactor performance and a higher quality effluent.

A system for electrohydromodulation of wastewater. In an embodiment, the system comprises an anode in contact with at least one anodic chamber and a cathode in contact with a cathodic chamber. Each anodic chamber and the cathodic chamber are configured to receive a flow of wastewater. A first multivalent cation exchange membrane, between each anodic chamber and the cathodic chamber, allows multivalent cations to pass therethrough while preventing monovalent ions to pass therethrough. A power source is electrically coupled to each anode and the cathode, and is configured to apply a voltage across wastewater in the anodic chamber and the cathodic chamber, to thereby cause multivalent cations in the wastewater to pass through the multivalent cation exchange membrane.

The invention concerns a method and apparatus for producing silica concentrates from geothermal fluids containing at least 300 ppm silica, by passing the fluid at a temperature above 80° C. and at a pH reduced to between 4.0 and 7.5 through a reverse osmosis membrane. In the diagram, geothermal fluid (I) is passed to a separator (2) to be flashed to produce steam (3) and separated geothermal water (SGW) (4). The SGW (4) is passed to a heat exchanger (5) then inlet pump (7). Acid is introduced to the geothermal fluid flow at a dosing means (6) to reduce the pH and an anti-sealant may also be introduced. The geothermal fluid is then passed to a reverse osmosis unit (8) to produce a concentrate (9) and a permeate (10). Following reverse osmosis, the concentrate and permeate may be treated with other processes to produce the desired product and concentration. For example, if precipitated silica is produced, the concentrate is passed to a curing tank (11) and to a thickener (12). The precipitated silica is collected (13) while the retained fluid is removed (14).

The invention concerns a method and apparatus for producing silica concentrates from geothermal fluids containing at least 300 ppm silica, by passing the fluid at a temperature above 80° C. and at a pH reduced to between 4.0 and 7.5 through a reverse osmosis membrane. In the diagram, geothermal fluid (I) is passed to a separator (2) to be flashed to produce steam (3) and separated geothermal water (SGW) (4). The SGW (4) is passed to a heat exchanger (5) then inlet pump (7). Acid is introduced to the geothermal fluid flow at a dosing means (6) to reduce the pH and an anti-sealant may also be introduced. The geothermal fluid is then passed to a reverse osmosis unit (8) to produce a concentrate (9) and a permeate (10). Following reverse osmosis, the concentrate and permeate may be treated with other processes to produce the desired product and concentration. For example, if precipitated silica is produced, the concentrate is passed to a curing tank (11) and to a thickener (12). The precipitated silica is collected (13) while the retained fluid is removed (14).

Single-stage and multi-stage systems and methods for the recovery of critical elements in substantially pure form from lithium ion batteries are provided. The systems and methods include supported membrane solvent extraction using an immobilized organic phase within the pores of permeable hollow fibers. The permeable hollow fibers are contacted by a feed solution on one side, and a strip solution on another side, to provide the simultaneous extraction and stripping of elements from dissolved lithium ion cathode materials, while rejecting other elements from the feed solution. The single- and multi-stage systems and methods can selectively recover cobalt, manganese, nickel, lithium, aluminum and other elements from spent battery cathodes and are not limited by equilibrium constraints as compared to traditional solvent extraction processes.