A spiral separator for separating more-desired material from less-desired material has a feed arrangement for feeding a slurry of mixed more-desired material and less-desired material, a spiral trough, and a splitting arrangement for off-take of a concentrate band of more desired material, and the spiral trough is configured to provide an effective cross-trough floor slope of less than 8 degrees to horizontal in a turn immediately upstream of the splitting arrangement. The separator may be a multi-stage separator and include a slurry preparation apparatus between each pair of stages.

Provided is a field-flow-fractionation apparatus that is configured to supply a carrier fluid to a waste fluid chamber through a fluid supply flow path at a flow rate higher than a set flow rate of a flow rate adjusting part at a timing between an end of analysis of a sample and a start of analysis of a subsequent sample, thereby forming a flow of the carrier fluid from the waste fluid chamber to the separation channel. Accordingly, the sample adhering to a separation membrane is separated from the separation membrane and is discharged from the outlet port.

Provided is a field-flow-fractionation apparatus that is configured to supply a carrier fluid to a waste fluid chamber through a fluid supply flow path at a flow rate higher than a set flow rate of a flow rate adjusting part at a timing between an end of analysis of a sample and a start of analysis of a subsequent sample, thereby forming a flow of the carrier fluid from the waste fluid chamber to the separation channel. Accordingly, the sample adhering to a separation membrane is separated from the separation membrane and is discharged from the outlet port.

Disclosed herein is a method comprising discharging a slurry from a vessel to a conduit; where the slurry comprises a liquid and a composition comprising at least two materials having different densities-a first material having a higher density and a second material having a lower density than that of the first material; creating a surge in velocity in slurry flow as it is transported through the conduit; separating the first material from the second material; where the first material is disposed on an inner surface of the conduit and where the second material flows through the conduit to a container; and removing the first material from the inner surface of the conduit.

Disclosed herein is a method comprising discharging a slurry from a vessel to a conduit; where the slurry comprises a liquid and a composition comprising at least two materials having different densities-a first material having a higher density and a second material having a lower density than that of the first material; creating a surge in velocity in slurry flow as it is transported through the conduit; separating the first material from the second material; where the first material is disposed on an inner surface of the conduit and where the second material flows through the conduit to a container; and removing the first material from the inner surface of the conduit.

Disclosed herein is a method comprising discharging a slurry from a vessel to a conduit; where the slurry comprises a liquid and a composition comprising at least two materials having different densities-a first material having a higher density and a second material having a lower density than that of the first material; creating a surge in velocity in slurry flow as it is transported through the conduit; separating the first material from the second material; where the first material is disposed on an inner surface of the conduit and where the second material flows through the conduit to a container; and removing the first material from the inner surface of the conduit.

Disclosed herein is a method comprising discharging a slurry from a vessel to a conduit; where the slurry comprises a liquid and a composition comprising at least two materials having different densities-a first material having a higher density and a second material having a lower density than that of the first material; creating a surge in velocity in slurry flow as it is transported through the conduit; separating the first material from the second material; where the first material is disposed on an inner surface of the conduit and where the second material flows through the conduit to a container; and removing the first material from the inner surface of the conduit.

A cyclonic separation and materials processing method and system is presented in which materials entry at one end and which is arranged so that the materials that enter will be given a tangential velocity component as they enter. Specific embodiments include a three-dimensional sorting system with the use of an outward centrifugal motion and up/down (or vertical) motion flow of water or other media, which can be thought of as a three-dimensional separation.

A system multiple having units in a linear arrangement employs density separation processes. In one arrangement, the system provides more control over the agitation and forces separating the material. One system has a paddlewheel 115, 215 in some or all of the units to create movement to optimize the residence time (faster or slower) to optimize separation.

A method is used for treating a salt solution using a treatment system. The treatment system has an evaporation device to which the salt solution produced in an upstream operation is supplied. A crystallizate suspension having kainite, halite, and sylvite is obtained from the evaporation device, and the kainite is then separated from the crystallizate suspension. The method for separating the kainite from the crystallizate suspension has at least the following steps: supplying the crystallizate suspension to a preliminary classifying device in which kainite is partly separated from the crystallizate suspension by means of a preliminary removal process based on the particle size of the kainite, thereby obtaining a kainite-reduced fraction, and transferring the kainite-reduced fraction to a flotation device in which the remaining content of kainite is separated from the kainite-reduced fraction.