The invention, provides a method, apparatus and system for separating blood and other types of cellular components, and can be combined with holographic optical trapping manipulation or other forms of optical tweezing. One of the exemplary methods includes providing a first flow having a plurality of blood components; providing a second flow; contacting the first flow with the second flow to provide a first separation region; and differentially sedimenting a first blood cellular component of the plurality of blood components into the second flow while concurrently maintaining a second blood cellular component of the plurality of blood components in the first flow. The second flow having the first blood cellular component is then differentially removed from the first flow having the second blood cellular component. Holographic optical traps may also be utilized in conjunction with the various flows to move selected components from one flow to another, as part of or in addition to a separation stage.

A power supply system for an AC type of coalescerincluding a first transformer, a controllable transformer, a resonant control circuit and a control system. The first transformer has a primary winding with first and second primary terminals and a secondary winding with first and second secondary terminals, where the first and second secondary terminals are provided for connection to electrodes of the coalescer. The controllable transformer has a primary side for connection to an AC power source and a secondary side connected to first and second nodes, where the second node is connected to a second primary terminal of the first transformer. The resonant control circuit is connected between the first node and the second node. The control system is controlling the controllable transformer. The power supply system further comprises a capacitor connected between the first node and a first primary terminal of the first transformer.

Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to an apparatus comprising a phase separator configured to separate a mixture comprising (i) water containing NaCl and (ii) oil and/or gas into separate streams comprising the water, the oil (when oil is in the mixture), and the gas (when gas is in the mixture), an electrochemical membrane separation cell configured to separate sodium and chloride ions in the water stream to form a stream comprising a first sodium hydroxide solution and a stream comprising (i) hydrochloric acid and/or (ii) chlorine gas, a compressor configured to compress a gas containing CO.sub.2, a spray dryer configured to mix aqueous NaOH and the compressed gas to form sodium carbonate, and a cyclone separator configured separate the sodium carbonate from any excess components of the aqueous NaOH and/or the compressed gas.

An apparatus for separating water from a water-in-oil mixture having an elongated inlet vessel with a lower outlet end and an upper inlet end, the length thereof being a multiple of the largest vessel cross-sectional dimension. A separation vessel having an oil outlet and a divergent water outlet has an inlet passageway in communication with the inlet vessel lower outlet end. At least one electrode is positioned within the inlet vessel by which a mixture flowing therethrough is subjected to an electric field.

A method of removing entrained salt containing water from an inlet crude oil stream includes the steps of applying an electrical energy to at least one electrode of a plurality of horizontally oriented, spaced-apart electrodes (12, 14, 16) housed within an elongated desalting vessel (10) and distributing an inlet crude oil stream between the electrodes. Each electrode in the plurality of electrodes is housed in an upper portion of the desalting vessel and may be in communication with a first, second and third transformer (42, 44, 46), respectively. The electrical energy may be at a single frequency and voltage or at a modulated voltage. Or, the electrical energy may be a modulated frequency at a single or modulated voltage. Fresh water may be mixed with the inlet crude oil stream either exteriorly or interiorly of the vessel.

Embodiments described herein provide a method of separating a liquid mixture, comprising providing a liquid mixture to a separator, electrically coupling a power circuit to the liquid mixture inside the separator, applying a time-varying voltage to the power circuit, detecting a phase angle in the power circuit; and controlling the phase angle by adjusting a characteristic of the time-varying voltage.

The invention provides a method, apparatus and system for separating blood and other types of cellular components, and can be combined with holographic optical trapping manipulation or other forms of optical tweezing. One of the exemplary methods includes providing a first flow having a plurality of blood components; providing a second flow; contacting the first flow with the second flow to provide a first separation region; and differentially sedimenting a first blood cellular component of the plurality of blood components into the second flow while concurrently maintaining a second blood cellular component of the plurality of blood components in the first flow. The second flow having the first blood cellular component is then differentially removed from the first flow having the second blood cellular component. Holographic optical traps may also be utilized in conjunction with the various flows to move selected components from one flow to another, as part of or in addition to a separation stage.

The present invention relates to a method for the break-up of at least one emulsion and separation of the light and heavy phase with at least an de-emulsification rate of more than 95% in only one apparatus (module) within less than 5 min by applying at least one time dependent or temporal changeable electrical field wherein the at least one electrical field is a high frequency (HF) singular alternating current (AC) field with an electrical field strength between 2,000 and 100,000 V/m and a frequency (HF) between 12,000 Hz and 200,000 Hz. The present invention relates furthermore to a method for the treatment of at least one emulsion by applying at least one direct current (DC) field and at least one high frequency alternating current-HF/AC field wherein the at least one DC field, in particular a pulsed DC-field, and the at least one HF/AC field are applied in series to the emulsion to be treated. The present invention refers further to a device for conducting said methods.

An industrial wastewater and hydrocarbon treatment system including of a plurality of reactors and treatment modules that allows the application of principles of chemistry and quantum physics, dissociating electrons from the atoms or chemical elements contained in the hydrocarbon contaminated water. This invention advantageously allows the separation of water and oil in an efficient way, through the use of electromagnetic pulses with low amperage, and a series of filters.

A refrigerant regenerating apparatus is disclosed. A refrigerant regenerating apparatus of the present disclosure includes: a regenerator into which a refrigerant flows and from which the refrigerant is discharged, the regenerator configured to separate and discharge oil contained in a refrigerant flowing in the regenerator; and a recoverer into which the refrigerant discharged from the regenerator flows, the recoverer including a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant flowing in the recoverer and a heat exchanger configured to condense a refrigerant discharged from the compressor, in which the regenerator includes: a charger configured to charge oil contained in the refrigerant flowing in the regenerator with positive ions or negative ions using corona discharge; and a collector configured to electrically collect the oil charged through the charger.