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.

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.

A negative pressure shale shaker integrated with negative pressure generation and gas-liquid separation includes a base, a liquid inlet buffer tank, a screen frame assembly, a support frame, a vacuum hose, a damping spring, a screen frame inclination angle adjustment device, a drainage hose, a negative pressure automatic drainage device, a vacuum pan, a three-way pipe, a liquid mist separator, a connecting pipe, a vacuum pressure limiting valve, a silencer and a negative pressure fan. A drilling fluid containing cuttings, after entering the screen with a negative pressure thereunder, rapidly passes through the screen along with air into a vacuum chamber. The air in the vacuum chamber is directly drawn away through holes formed on the side plates of the screen frame by the negative pressure fan.

Systems and methods for cleansing blood are disclosed herein. The methods include acoustically separating undesirable particles bound to capture particles from formed elements of whole blood. After introducing the capture particles to whole blood containing undesirable particles, the whole blood and capture particles are flowed through a microfluidic separation channel. At least one bulk acoustic transducer is attached to the microfluidic separation channel. A standing acoustic wave, imparted on the channel and its contents by the bulk acoustic transducer, drives the formed elements and undesirable particles bound to capture particles to specific aggregation axes. After aggregating the particles, the formed elements exit the separation channel through a first outlet and are returned to the patient. The undesirable particles, bound to the capture particles, exit through a second outlet and can be discarded to saved for later study.

The present invention relates to a tubular oil separator providing separation of respective fluid components mixed in fluids from oil wells, wherein the tubular oil separator A is arranged to mitigate problems related to turbulence and possible non-Newtonian fluid behaviors of fluid components mixed in the fluids from the oil wells in the oil separator. The invention further relates to a method of operating a separator. Moreover the invention relates to a system of multiple separators. Inventive aspects of the separator comprises an elongated outer, closed tubular section and an elongated, inner tubular section, which is closed in one end and open in another end, —where the inner tubular section is arranged inside the outer tubular section, —and where oil well substances are introduced into the open end of the inner tubular section via a tube feed section passing through the outer tubular section and into the inner tubular section, —and where the inner tubular section comprises multiple, elongated and parallel slots arranged in a longitudinal direction of the inner tubular section in a circumferential manner, —where the inclination of the separator facilitates separation of the oil well substances into lower density substances and higher density substances, —where the lower density substances by buoyancy drift upward through the slots and exit via an upper outlet in the outer tubular section and higher density substances sink downward through the slots and by gravitation exit via a lower outlet in the outer tubular section.

An acoustic standing wave is utilized to separate components from a multi-component fluid, such as animal cells from fluid-cell mixture, in a fluid flow scheme with an acoustophoresis device. For example, the flow scheme and device allows for trapping of falling cells as the cells coalesce, agglomerate, and the weight of the agglomerated mass overcomes the drag and ultrasonic standing wave forces in the device.

An acoustophoresis device includes an acoustic chamber with a piezoelectric element located within its volume. The piezoelectric element vibrates and generates acoustic standing waves from both sides, so that particles can be separated from fluid passing through the acoustic chamber. This permits the element to be cooled more efficiently, reducing transient heat loads in the fluid traveling through the device.

Acoustophoretic devices and methods for separating biological cells (particularly T-cells) from other fluids/materials using multi-dimensional acoustic standing waves are disclosed. The devices include an inlet, at least two outlets, and a flow chamber having an ultrasonic transducer-reflector pair. Specifically, T cells, B cells, or NK cells can be separated from other blood components. A dual-pass acoustophoretic system including two acoustophoretic devices arranged in series and fluidly connected to one another is also illustrated. Means for pre-chilling the mixture prior to separation in the devices or system can be used to improve retention, concentration, and clarification and to prevent outgassing.

A system for enhancing the separation of particles or fluids from water is disclosed. A settling tank or skim tank is provided with an open submersible acoustophoretic separator. In a skim tank, the separator captures and holds oil droplets or particles, permitting them to coalesce until they are large enough and have sufficient buoyant force to float to the top of the tank. In a settling or sediment tank, separator captures and holds particles until they are large enough that the force of gravity causes them to settle out of the water. The acoustophoretic device thus speeds up separation of the particles or droplets from the water.

A method and system are provided for extracting a target analyte from a sample using acoustic ejection technology. The method involves applying focused acoustic energy to a fluid reservoir housing a fluid composition that contains a target analyte and comprises an upper region and a lower region, where the concentration of the target analyte in the upper region differs from that in the lower region. The focused acoustic energy is applied in a manner that is effective to result in the ejection of a fluid droplet from the fluid composition into a droplet receiver, wherein the concentration of the analyte in the droplet corresponds to either the concentration of the analyte in the upper region or the concentration of the analyte in the lower region, and wherein the concentration of the analyte is substantially uniform throughout the droplet. The fluid composition may comprise an ionic liquid, used in the extraction of ionic target analytes. Related methods and an acoustic extraction system are also provided.