There are provided processes for preparing a metal hydroxide comprising (i) at least one metal chosen from nickel and cobalt and optionally (ii) at least one metal chosen from manganese, lithium and aluminum, the process comprising reacting a metal sulfate comprising (i) at least one metal chosen from nickel and cobalt and optionally (ii) at least one metal chosen from manganese, lithium and aluminum with lithium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide and/or potassium hydroxide and optionally a chelating agent in order to obtain a solid comprising the metal hydroxide and a liquid comprising lithium sulfate, sodium sulfate and/or potassium sulfate: separating the liquid and the solid from one another to obtain the metal hydroxide; submitting the liquid comprising lithium sulfate, sodium sulfate and/or potassium sulfate to an electromembrane process for converting the lithium sulfate, sodium sulfate and/or potassium sulfate into lithium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide and/or potassium hydroxide respectively; reusing the sodium hydroxide obtained by the electromembrane process for reacting with the metal sulfate; and reusing the lithium hydroxide obtained by the electromembrane process for reacting with the metal sulfate and/or with the metal hydroxide.

An apparatus for extracting a material from a liquid includes a concentration stage having a filter, a first path from the filter, and a second path from the filter. Under this configuration, the concentration stage accepts an initial liquid volume. A first liquid not having material collected by the filter is passed along the first path, and concentrated liquid having material therein, which is entrapped by the filter, is directed to the second path. The apparatus also includes an aerosolizing stage coupled to the concentration stage that converts the concentrated liquid into an aerosol and a drying stage that dries the aerosol such that material extracted from the aerosol onto a material substrate.

The present disclosure relates, according to some embodiments, to systems for purifying proteins and carbohydrate rich products from photosynthetic aquatic species and compositions thereof. In some embodiments, a system for recovering a highly soluble protein product from a biomass comprising a microcrop (e.g., Lemna) may comprise (a) a lysing unit to lyse a first portion of the biomass to form a first portion of lysed biomass, (b) a first separating unit to separate the first portion of lysed biomass to generate a first portion of a juice fraction and a first portion of a solid fraction, (c) a second separating unit to separate the first portion of the juice fraction to generate a first portion of a first juice and a first portion of a first cake, (d) a first filtration unit to filter the first portion of the first juice to generate a first portion of a soluble protein and a first reject stream, (e) a second filtration unit to filter the first portion of the soluble protein to generate a first portion of a second soluble protein and a second reject stream, (f) a dewatering unit to concentrate the first portion of the second soluble protein to generate a first portion of a concentrated soluble protein, and (g) a drying unit to dry the first portion of the concentrated soluble protein to generate a first portion of a dry protein concentrate.

The present invention provides a method for extracting -polylysine (-PL) and its hydrochloride salt from fermentation broth, which belongs to the field of bio-separation engineering. -PL and its hydrochloride salt are produced from fermentation broth through sequential solid-liquid separation, ultrafiltration, two-stage ion exchange, nanofiltration, evaporation concentration and drying techniques. Technologies of membrane filtration and two-stage ion exchange are applied to the preparation of -PL and its hydrochloride salt in the present invention, and the invention are characterized by reduced cost, improved automation, and increased product yield and purity, and the method of the present invention would be more suitable for industrial production.

A desalination device may comprise: a membrane distillation module comprising a water feed chamber, a carrier gas (CG) chamber, and a hydrophobic microporous membrane configured to separate the water feed chamber and the CG chamber; and a bubble column dehumidifier comprising a bubble column inlet, a bubble column gas outlet, and a product outlet, wherein the MD module allows water vapor to translocate to the CG chamber, but not liquid water, and wherein the water feed each chamber has comprises a water feed inlet and a water feed outlet, wherein the CG chamber comprises a CG chamber inlet and CG chamber outlet, wherein the CG chamber outlet is upstream of and connected to the bubble column dehumidifier, and wherein the CG chamber inlet is downstream of and connected to the bubble column dehumidifier so as to cycle a carrier gas through the CG chamber and the bubble column dehumidifier.

An apparatus for extracting a material from a liquid includes a concentration stage having a tangential flow filter, a first path from the tangential flow filter, and a second path from the tangential flow filter. Under this configuration, the concentration stage accepts an initial liquid volume. A first liquid not having material collected by the tangential flow filter is passed along the first path, and concentrated liquid having material therein, which is entrapped by the filter, is directed to the second path. The apparatus also includes an aerosolizing stage coupled to the concentration stage that converts the concentrated liquid into an aerosol and a drying stage that dries the aerosol such that material extracted from the aerosol onto a material substrate.

An apparatus for extracting a material from a liquid includes a concentration stage having a tangential flow filter, a first path from the tangential flow filter, and a second path from the tangential flow filter. Under this configuration, the concentration stage accepts an initial liquid volume. A first liquid not having material collected by the tangential flow filter is passed along the first path, and concentrated liquid having material therein, which is entrapped by the filter, is directed to the second path. The apparatus also includes an aerosolizing stage coupled to the concentration stage that converts the concentrated liquid into an aerosol and a drying stage that dries the aerosol such that material extracted from the aerosol onto a material substrate.

The present disclosure relates, according to some embodiments, to methods and systems for purifying proteins and carbohydrate rich products from photosynthetic aquatic species and compositions thereof. For example, one embodiment of the present disclosure relates to methods and systems for purifying proteins the present disclosure relates, in some embodiments to methods and systems for extracting proteins, dry biocrude, and carbohydrate-rich meal from Lemna. In some embodiments, a method of treating a biomass comprising a microcrop (e.g., Lemna) to produce a product comprising soluble microcrop protein may comprise: (a) lysing a first portion of the biomass to form a first portion of lysed biomass; (b) separating the first portion of lysed biomass to generate a first portion of a juice fraction and a first portion of a solid fraction; (c) separating the first portion of the juice fraction to generate a first portion of a first juice and a first portion of a first cake, wherein the first juice comprises a soluble microcrop protein; and/or (d) filtering the first portion of the first juice to generate a first portion of the product comprising soluble microcrop protein and a reject stream.

The present application is related to a method for preparing a feeding instant Astragalus polysaccharide powder and an application thereof. The method includes the following steps: adding deionized water at 65 C. to a dreg of Astragalus membranaceus by water extraction and alcohol precipitation, controlling an alcohol volume fraction at 20%, stirring fully to dissolve the dreg, and after a dreg solution cools to room temperature, removing insoluble thermo-sensitive macromolecular proteins, polysaccharides and solid residues by centrifugation at 3500 revolutions per minute to obtain a clear supernatant. Ultrafiltration treatment is performed by hollow fiber membranes on the supernatant obtained after the centrifugation, and 10-100 kDa polysaccharide components are collected. A low-molecular-weight instant Astragalus polysaccharide powder with high immunocompetence is obtained through an interlayer cold air cooling spray drying process, and the content of active polysaccharide is more than 87%.

A method of obtaining conjugated estrogens from pregnant mare's urine by supercritical fluid extraction and the product thus obtained is disclosed.