A method of processing thin stillage in an ethanol refining operation is provided. The method comprises treating thin stillage upstream of a concentration or evaporation step with an inverse emulsion comprising at least one anionic flocculant and an emulsifying agent selected from a sorbitan ester of a fatty acid, an ethoxylated sorbitan ester of a fatty acid, and combinations thereof, thereby forming treated thin stillage; clarifying the treated thin stillage via at least one of dissolved air flotation and induced air flotation, thereby forming clarified thin stillage and a float layer comprising oil and solids; separating the oil from the solids of the float layer; and recovering the oil.

An apparatus for separating hydrocarbons from water, comprising a tank segment with a fluid inlet subsequent a housing with a liquid gas mixer. The fluid inlet through a cylindrical tank wall,and further through the wall of a conical wall segment, a pipe spread, combining radial and axial flow over ring mounted guide vanes at the upper part of the conical wall segment. A hydro carbon outlet is located at a top end and a water outlet at a bottom end of tank-segment. A pipe for scale and debris removal is connected to the lower part of the bowl. The inner conical wall segment extends to the top end of the tank segment and at this location comprises a ring of vertically mounted guide vanes.

A method for recovering bio-oil from an emulsified bio-oil process stream, by adding a chemical additive system to the emulsified bio-oil process stream, wherein the chemical additive system comprises at least one surfactant and at least one hydrophobic particulate not based on silica. Bio-oil recovered from the method. A bio-oil recovery system, including a supply of emulsified bio-oil, a supply of chemical additive, wherein the chemical additive comprises at least one surfactant and at least one hydrophobic particulate not based on silica, a treatment unit for combining the chemical additive system with the emulsified bio-oil, and a centrifuge system for dewatering the treated emulsion and producing a concentrated bio-oil.

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 gas-liquid separator having an introduction duct defining an introduction opening receiving the multiphase fluid stream, and a static first separation stage extending along a longitudinal axis, connected with the introduction duct, the first separation stage including an outer wall, an inner wall and at least an inner baffle inducing an helical movement of the multiphase fluid stream around the longitudinal axis driving a liquid contained in the fluid stream onto the outer wall and a gas contained in the multiphase fluid stream onto the inner wall. The outer wall or/and the inner wall delimit(s) at least a lateral orifice evacuating a respective one of the liquid or the gas separated along the inner baffle, each lateral orifice extending along each inner baffle and defining a lateral staged evacuation of the respective one of the liquid or of the gas in an evacuation canal along the respective inner and outer walls.

An apparatus for separating hydrocarbons from solid particles includes a slurry inlet for receiving a slurry including water, hydrocarbons and solid particles, a water supply for rinsing water, and a slurry outlet. The apparatus further includes a plurality of nozzles configured to provide rinsing water as droplets with sufficient speed to induce cavitation in the slurry, and a separator for extracting a liquid containing water and hydrocarbons from the slurry and a separate liquid outlet for the extracted liquid.

A stirrer is provided such that a fluid being processed can be more efficiently shown by way of the action of an intermittent jet flow and processing capacity can be improved. The stirrer concentrically includes a rotor that includes a plurality of flat vanes and that rotates, and a screen that is place around the rotor. The screen includes a plurality of slits in the circumferential direction thereof, and screen members that are positioned between adjacent slits. The fluid being processed is discharged by rotation of the rotor from the inside of the screen to the outside as an intermittent jet flow through the slits. The width of the distal working face on the distal end of the vane in the rotational direction is smaller than the width of the basal end of the vane in the rotational direction.

The present disclosure provides method for isolating a long chain dicarboxylic acid such as a substantially pure or pure long chain dicarboxylic acid from a fermentation broth containing microbial cells.

A method of recovering organic components from an aqueous biomass in the method includes: (i) providing an aqueous biomass containing organic components; (ii) treatment of the aqueous biomass to release intracellular organic components from within cells of the biomass to form a biomass suspension; addition of a water-immiscible component to the biomass suspension to form a mixture comprising biomass and water-immiscible component; (iv) subjecting the mixture comprising biomass and water-immiscible component to high shear to form a water-in-water-immiscible-component emulsion; and (v) separating the water-immiscible component phase from the water/aqueous phase.

Provided are a separator with improved oil separation efficiency, and a refrigeration cycle apparatus including the separator. The separator includes an inflow pipe portion, an oil storage portion, an oil return pipe portion, and an outflow pipe portion. The inflow pipe portion includes a swirling portion that defines a flow direction of refrigerant so as to swirl the refrigerant. The oil storage portion is connected to the inflow pipe portion. The oil return pipe portion is connected to a vertically lower side of the oil storage portion. The outflow pipe portion includes an opening end that faces the swirling portion. The outflow pipe portion extends from a region that faces the swirling portion to the outside of the oil storage portion. The opening end is configured such that the refrigerant discharged from the swirling portion can directly flow thereinto.