Disclosed are devices, methods and/or systems for use in protecting items and/or structures that are exposed to, submerged and/or partially submerged in aquatic environments from contamination and/or fouling due to the incursion and/or colonization by specific types and/or kinds of biologic organisms and/or plants, including the protection from micro- and/or macro-fouling for extended periods of time of exposure to aquatic environments.

A hollow fiber membrane module 100 includes: a plurality of hollow fiber membranes 10; a container 20 storing the plurality of hollow fiber membranes 10; and a feed water inlet 201 provided at one end portion of the container 20 such that a direction in which feed water flows into the container 20 is parallel to a longitudinal direction of the plurality of hollow fiber membranes 10. A permeation flux of the hollow fiber membranes 10 at a transmembrane pressure difference of 0.1 MPa is higher than or equal to 850 liter/m.sup.2/h.

A method for cleaning membrane is provided. The method includes, providing a membrane, introducing a thermo-sensitive ionic liquid to contact the membrane and perform a cleaning procedure to collect a cleaning solution, and layering the cleaning solution to form an aqueous layer and an ionic liquid layer at a specific temperature.

Disclosed are devices, methods and/or systems for use in protecting items and/or structures that are exposed to, submerged and/or partially submerged in aquatic environments from contamination and/or fouling due to the incursion and/or colonization by specific types and/or kinds of biologic organisms and/or plants, including the protection from micro- and/or macro-fouling for extended periods of time of exposure to aquatic environments.

A membrane for filtering one or more hydrophobic organic contaminants can include a porous nanostructure that includes one or more of a metal, a metal oxide, and a metal alloy nanostructure component functionalized with one or more amphiphilic ligands.

We provide methods, systems, and apparatus for treatment of high chemical oxygen demand wastewater using anaerobic treatment with ceramic membranes. We also provide post-treatment using microbial fuel cells.

A method of providing fouling control in a membrane system includes generating a sacrificial protective layer (PL) on a surface of a membrane of the membrane system by coating the membrane with at least one polyelectrolyte layer, removing the PL from the membrane with a saline solution after the PL is fouled, and regenerating a new PL on the surface of the membrane by coating the membrane with at least one polyelectrolyte layer such that foulants present in a feed water accumulate on the PL, rather than on the membrane. The method further comprises one or more of the following: a) the saline solution is being applied with a shear force; b) the pH value of the saline solution is substantially neutral; c) the saline solution is non-toxic; d) the PL is removed without a backwash; e) the PL is not an active filtration layer, wherein a pore size of the PL is greater than a pore size of the membrane; and/or f) the PL is not disposed in pores of the membrane.

A microorganism recovering method high in recovering efficiency is provided. A microorganism recovering method of recovering microorganisms from a liquid sample includes filtering out microorganisms from the liquid sample through a filtration apparatus, the filtration apparatus including a first end and a second end, the filtration apparatus being configured to receive the liquid sample at the first end and being configured to discharge from the second end filtrate generated through the filtering out microorganisms and recovering the microorganisms filtered out by the filtration apparatus together with a culture medium by feeding the culture medium from the second end to the first end.

Biocide can be controllably added to a feed stream for a membrane. In some examples, the feed stream is separated into a primary feed stream and a secondary feed stream, for example, with the secondary feed stream having a lower flow rate than the primary feed stream. The secondary feed stream may be used to monitor and control the addition of the biocide, which is then diluted when the secondary feed stream is combined with the primary feed stream to form a combined stream for delivery to the membrane.

Presented is a method for using an ethyl acetate solvent to remove all or most of the asphaltenes, resins and heavy metals from crude oil. The oil is filtered to remove the precipitants and the permeate is then deasphalted oil, rich in ethyl acetate solvent. The ethyl acetate may be recovered by flashed solvent recovery system and recycled back. Filter elements are regenerated with toluene and recovered by a flashed solvent recovery system.