An apparatus includes a chamber and an intake device configured to control a flow of fluid into the chamber. The fluid comprises particles; a resonance device is configured to resonate the chamber to provide an acoustic standing wave within the chambers. The frequency of the standing wave is selected to cause particles above a specific size to collect at a node of the standing wave.

A system for changing a concentration of at least one group of particles in a fluid, which includes a first container and a second container; a first transfer device and a second transfer device, and an element for keeping the volume of fluid in the first and second containers constant. The first container is fluidly connected to an inlet of the first transfer device, and the second container is fluidly connected to an inlet of the second transfer device. The first and second transfer devices include a chamber associated with at least one acoustic wave generator for generating acoustic waves within the chamber; at least two outlets including a first outlet for fluid enriched with the particles and a second outlet for fluid depleted of the particles; the first outlet being fluidly connected to the first container and the second outlet being fluidly connected to the second container.

A drilling fluid shaker screen system includes a screen assembly that includes a screen including a plurality of screen sections. A first screen section includes a first screen mesh size and a second screen section includes a second screen mesh size different than the first screen mesh size. The drilling fluid shaker screen system further includes a rotation assembly mounted to the screen assembly. The rotation assembly includes one or more rollers moveable to rotate the screen assembly about an axis of rotation. The drilling fluid shaker screen system further includes a motor assembly coupled to the screen assembly and configured to vibrate the screen assembly. A housing includes a cuttings outlet that is fluidly coupled to a cuttings inlet formed in the screen and a liquid outlet separate from the cuttings outlet that is fluidly coupled to the plurality of screen sections.

An acoustophoretic device is disclosed. The acoustophoretic device includes an acoustic chamber, an ultrasonic transducer, and a reflector. The ultrasonic transducer includes a piezoelectric material driven by a voltage signal to create a multi-dimensional acoustic standing wave in the acoustic chamber emanating from a non-planar face of the piezoelectric material. A method for separating a second fluid or a particulate from a host fluid is also disclosed. The method includes flowing the mixture through an acoustophoretic device. A voltage signal is sent to drive the ultrasonic transducer to create the multi-dimensional acoustic standing wave in the acoustic chamber such that the second fluid or particulate is continuously trapped in the standing wave, and then agglomerates, aggregates, clumps, or coalesces together, and subsequently rises or settles out of the host fluid due to buoyancy or gravity forces, and exits the acoustic chamber.

Systems and methods for cleansing blood are disclosed herein. The methods include acoustically separating target particles from elements of whole blood. The whole blood and capture particles are flowed through a microfluidic separation channel formed in a thermoplastic. 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 of the blood and target particles to specific aggregation axes.

Multi-stage acoustophoretic devices for continuously separating a second fluid or a particulate from a host fluid are disclosed. Methods of operating the multi-stage acoustophoretic devices are also disclosed. The systems may include multiple acoustophoretic devices fluidly connected to one another in series, each acoustophoretic device comprising a flow chamber, an ultrasonic transducer capable of creating a multi-dimensional acoustic standing wave, and a reflector. The systems can further include pumps and flowmeters.

Method and apparatus to facilitate recycling of at least one fraction of bitumen-containing materials. This can be accomplished by dissolving the at least one fraction, for example, maltenes or asphaltenes in roofing shingles, into at least one solvent. In one aspect, the apparatus comprises a dissolution vessel, a tumbler positioned therein, and at least one solvent distributor. The tumbler is configured to facilitate wetting the bitumen-containing materials with solvent. In a second aspect, a system comprises the apparatus, a solid-liquid separator, for example, a vibratory screen, and at least one solvent-fraction separator, for example, a flash drum. The at least one solvent can comprise one or more solvents useful to extract the at least one fraction. In a third aspect, a first fraction is extracted from the bitumen-containing materials with a first solvent composition, then a second fraction is extracted from the remaining bitumen-containing materials with a second solvent composition.

An acoustic standing wave is utilized to separate components from a multi-component fluid, such as oil from an oil-water mixture, or cells entrained in a fluid, in a fluid flow scheme with an acoustophoresis device. For example, the flow scheme and device allows for trapping of the oil as the oil coalesces, agglomerates, and becomes more buoyant than the water. A driver and controller for the acoustophoretic device accommodate variable loading as the components are separated, thereby improving separation efficiency.

Filter installations for suspended matter in flowing fluids, including filtration methods, uses and equipment and plants with filter installations. A device reducing the specific particle count of suspended matter by means of an energy input using ultrasound waves stabilized with electronic feedback loops and their harmonics in the fluids or in objects attached thereto. A flow pipe having a wall, which, on its outer side, its inner side, and/or in the wall has pairs of mutually opposite exciters of longitudinal waves and their harmonics, and/or reflectors, opposite the exciters of the flow pipe to a filter, which keeps the specific particle counts of the suspended matter in the filtered fluids to below the detectable limit.

A turbid matter separating apparatus extracts turbid matter and a supernatant liquid separately from a suspension. The invention is directed to a turbid matter separating apparatus which includes a liquid container which includes a sediment discharge port and a supernatant liquid discharge port and is filled with a suspension containing turbid matter, a sediment valve which is provided in the sediment discharge port, a supernatant liquid valve which is provided in the supernatant liquid discharge port, an ultrasonic irradiator which irradiates the suspension filled in the liquid container with ultrasound, and a control unit which controls the sediment valve, the supernatant liquid valve, and the ultrasonic irradiator, the control unit being configured to control the sediment valve to discharge a sediment and controls a supernatant liquid valve to discharge a supernatant liquid after a predetermined time elapses since the irradiation with ultrasound by the ultrasonic irradiator is stopped.