The present invention provides a system for enriching a flowing liquid with a dissolved gas inside a conduit. The system comprises two or more capillaries, each capillary delivering a stream of a gas-enriched liquid to the flowing liquid. The first ends of the capillaries are positioned to form an intersecting angle with respect to the effluent streams such that these streams of gas-enriched liquid collide with each other upon exit from the first ends of the capillaries, effecting localized convective mixing within the larger liquid conduit before these gas-enriched streams are able to come into close contact with the boundary surfaces of the conduit, whereby the gas-enriched liquid mixes with the flowing liquid to form a gas-enriched flowing liquid. In the preferred embodiment, no observable bubbles are formed in the gas-enriched flowing liquid. Methods of making and using such system are also provided.

In one example, a liquid mixture nozzle for flowing a liquid mixture therethrough includes a body having a flow inlet and a flow outlet. The flow inlet is configured to couple to a first piece of piping and the flow outlet is configured to couple to a second piece of piping. The liquid mixture nozzle also includes a converging section having a decreasing diameter positioned adjacent the flow inlet, an orifice positioned at a narrow end of the converging section, an intermediate section having a constant diameter positioned adjacent the orifice, a diverging section having an increasing diameter positioned adjacent the intermediate section and the flow outlet.

A process for producing an aqueous polymer solution, including: (a) providing a hydrated polymer that has been prepared by aqueous solution polymerisation of ethylenically unsaturated monomers, which hydrated polymer contains at least 10% by weight active polymer; (b) cutting the hydrated polymer by subjecting the hydrated polymer to at least one cutting stage containing at least one stream of aqueous liquid at a pressure of at least 150 bar to reduce the size of the hydrated polymer; and (c) dissolving the hydrated polymer in an aqueous liquid so as to obtain an aqueous polymer solution. An apparatus for producing an aqueous polymer solution.

A compact interaction chamber is used to cause high shear, impact forces, and cavitation to reduce particle size and mix fluids while reducing waste and holdup volume. A first housing made of stainless steel holds an inlet mixing chamber element and an outlet mixing chamber element in a female bore using thermal expansion. The inlet and outlet mixing chamber elements are manufactured so that the diameter of the cooled female bore is slightly smaller than the diameter of the mixing chamber elements. The first housing is heated, expanding the diameter of the female bore enough to allow the inlet and outlet mixing chamber elements to be inserted. After the mixing chamber elements are inserted and aligned within the female bore, the first housing is allowed to cool. Once cooled, the female bore contracts and applies sufficient hoop stress to securely hold the mixing chamber elements during high shear force mixing.

A method for continuously processing at least two liquid feed streams is provided. A system for continuously processing at least two liquid feed streams is also provided.

A cavitation apparatus capable of performing multiple, different-type cavitation processes taking place simultaneously in the same geometric space, thereby obtaining an effective cavitation process that is significantly faster than those provided by conventional cavitation apparatus. The cavitation apparatus can include consecutive and/or simultaneous cavitation units which are configured to carry out consecutive and/or simultaneous cavitation processes on a material flowing through the apparatus, such that effects of one or more prior cavitation processes are present in the material while the material is subjected to one or more further cavitation processes within the apparatus, enhancing the cavitation effects in a reduced amount of time and increasing productivity of the apparatus. In some embodiments, the apparatus can perform seven cavitation processes, of four different types.

In one example, a liquid mixture nozzle for flowing a liquid mixture therethrough includes a body having a flow inlet and a flow outlet. The flow inlet is configured to couple to a first piece of piping and the flow outlet is configured to couple to a second piece of piping. The liquid mixture nozzle also includes a converging section having a decreasing diameter positioned adjacent the flow inlet, an orifice positioned at a narrow end of the converging section, an intermediate section having a constant diameter positioned adjacent the orifice, a diverging section having an increasing diameter positioned adjacent the intermediate section and the flow outlet.

A process for the production of an oxidized polymer from a tetrakis hydroxyalkyl phosphonium compound comprising NH.sub.3 or at least one nitrogen compound comprising at least one NH.sub.2 or at least two NH groups, or NH.sub.3, comprising the steps of: (a) reacting at least one tetrakis hydroxyalkyl phosphonium compound with NH.sub.3 or at least one nitrogen compound in order to obtain a precondensate, wherein the molar ratio of the tetrakis hydroxyakyl phosphonium compound to the nitrogen compound is in the range of 1:(0.05 to 2.0), preferably in the range of 1:(0.5 to 1.5), particularly preferably in the range of 1:(0.65 to 1.2), (b) crosslinking the precondensate obtained in process step (a) with the aid of ammonia to form a crosslinked polymer, (c) oxidizing the crosslinked polymer obtained in step (b) by adding an oxidizing agent to the oxidized polymer, wherein, in step (b), the precondensate from step (a) and the ammonia are each injected by means of a nozzle into a reactor space enclosed by a reactor housing onto a common collision point.

A mixing valve is described for a dispensing device for dispensing a cooled beverage mixed with a gas, comprising: a first inlet which can be fluidically connected to a first source of gas and can be supplied with the gas; a second inlet which can be connected to a second source of the beverage without gas and can be supplied with the beverage not mixed with the gas; an outlet which can be connected to a first dispensing mouth for dispensing the beverage mixed with the gas; the dispensing mouth is available in a closed or open configuration to prevent or allow dispensing of the beverage mixed with said gas; a chamber interposed between the first and the second inlet on one side and the outlet on the other side and adapted to allow mixing of the gas and non-mixed beverage, thus forming the beverage mixed with the gas; and regulation means, configured to allow, when the first dispensing mouth is arranged in the open configuration, the passage, respectively, of a first flow value of gas between the first inlet and the outlet and a second flow value of non-mixed beverage between the second inlet and the outlet.

The invention describes a method for the identification of compounds which bind to a target component of a biochemical system or modulate the activity of the target, comprising the steps of: a) compartmentalising the compounds into microcapsules together with the target, such that only a subset of the repertoire is represented in multiple copies in any one microcapsule; and b) identifying the compound which binds to or modulates the activity of the target; wherein at least one step is performed under microfluidic control. The invention enables the screening of large repertoires of molecules which can serve as leads for drug development.