An RF driver provides power to an acoustic transducer, which can be implemented as a piezoelectric element, which presents a reactive load. The driver can be a linear amplifier or a combination of a DC-DC converter and DC-AC inverter. A controller implements a control technique for efficient transducer operation. The control technique can locate a frequency for operation that is at a reactance minimum or maximum for the transducer to provide efficient operation of that transducer. An implementation of the controller can be provided in modular hardware.

A system and process for removing solids from raw, untreated liquid that combines mechanical techniques, such as via shakers, hydrocyclones author centrifuges, with an additive technique for removal of smaller solids. The additive is selected according to the application. In drilling mud applications, preferred additive embodiments are polyaluminum chloride or polyacrylamide flocculants. Preferably, liquid additive precursors are pre-mixed separately and are then blended before injection into the solids removal process. Some embodiments provide an externally-actuated rack and pinion mud screen lock for simplified screen lockdown on shakers. Some embodiments provide a separate preliminary processing and feed system for pretreatment of the raw, untreated liquid.

Acoustic perfusion devices for separating biological cells from other material in a fluid mixture are disclosed. The devices include an inlet port, an outlet port, and a collection port that are connected to an acoustic chamber. An ultrasonic transducer creates an acoustic standing wave in the acoustic chamber that permits a continuous flow of fluid to be recovered through the collection port while keeping the biological cells within the acoustic chamber to be returned to the bioreactor from which the fluid mixture is being drawn.

An acoustophoretic system is controlled and driven to attain a desired level of performance. An RF controller and a driver provide a frequency and power to an acoustic transducer, which can be implemented as a piezoelectric element, which presents a reactive load or a complex load. A controller implements a control technique for efficient transducer operation. The control technique can locate a frequency for operation that is at a reactance minimum or maximum for the system to produce a modal pattern and to provide efficient operation of the transducer. A method of detecting a minimum or maximum reactance in a acoustophoretic system used to trap, separate, deflect, cluster, fractionate or otherwise process particles or secondary fluids or tertiary fluids in a primary fluid and utilizing the frequency of the detected reactance to operate the acoustophoretic system.

A method of washing particles in an acoustic chamber includes (a) flowing a suspension of particles in a suspension medium through a standing wave generated in a standing wave volume of the acoustic chamber to accumulate within the acoustic chamber at least some of the particles as raw particle concentrate; and (b) flowing a wash medium through the acoustic chamber to wash within the acoustic chamber at least some of the particles of the raw particle concentrate, and retaining within the acoustic chamber at least some washed particles.

A copper/molybdenum separation processor is provided featuring a slurry/media mixture stage configured to receive a conditioned pulp containing hydrophobic molybdenite and hydrophilic copper, iron and other minerals that is conditioned with sodium hydrosulfide together with an engineered polymeric hydrophobic media, and provide a slurry/media mixture; and a slurry/media separation stage configured to receive the slurry/media mixture, and provide a slurry product having a copper concentrate and a polymerized hydrophobic media product having a molybdenum concentrate that are separately directed for further processing. The slurry/media mixture stage include a molybdenum loading stage configured to contact the conditioned pulp with the engineered polymeric hydrophobic media in an agitated reaction chamber, and load the hydrophobic molybdenite on the engineered polymeric hydrophobic media.

A system for separating solids from a first slurry mixture recovered from a hydrocarbon well. The system includes a V-shaped tank and one or more second mixing tanks for accumulating a slurry of fine particles from an overflow from the V-shaped tank. A shaftless auger moves solids to a conduit fluidly connected to hydrocyclones. The overflow of the hydrocyclones is mixed with the first flurry coming from a rig flow line and is discharged over a target plate and bar screen. Air is released from the mixture through one or more perforated baffles. Solids fall from the bar screen onto a shaker, which dewaters these solids as well as solids from an underflow from the hydrocyclones.

The present disclosure provides an apparatus for extracting resin from plant material, comprising an agitation tank having an open top and an outlet at a bottom thereof, a strainer basket installed within the agitation tank, the strainer basket comprising walls constructed from a mesh material selected based on a type of plant material to be processed, and an agitator comprising a motor which turns a shaft and two impellers mounted on the shaft. The present disclosure also provides a process for extracting resin from plant material, comprising placing a quantity of plant material within a strainer basket comprising walls constructed from a mesh material, submersing the strainer basket in a tank filled with chilled water at a temperature in the range of 0-10 Celsius, agitating the plant material and chilled water within the strainer basket to separate trichomes from the plant material, and removing a mixture of water and trichomes from an outlet at the bottom of the tank.

Disclosed herein are systems and methods of purification of liquid from colloidal particles. More specifically, disclosed are systems and methods for treating water by effecting aggregation of colloidal particles and thus improving their sedimentation, by enhancing grouping of the particles using accelerating, decelerating, and reversing velocity gradients within the liquid. The disclosed methods and systems for water treatment allow for continuous treatment of a contaminated water stream in a single flocculation and sedimentation vessel (i.e. a hybrid process).

A system for enhancing the separation of particles or fluids from water is disclosed. A tank or bioreactor is provided with an open submersible acoustophoretic separator. The separator captures and holds fluid droplets or particles such as cells, permitting them to coalesce or agglomerate until they are large enough and have sufficient buoyant or weight force to float/sink to the top/bottom of the tank or bioreactor. In a tank or bioreactor, the separator captures and holds particles until they are large enough that their weight causes them to settle out of the host fluid. The acoustophoretic device thus speeds up separation of the particles or droplets from the host fluid.