Provided are a liquid treatment apparatus and a liquid treatment method for reducing a waste amount of a high specific gravity liquid.

The liquid treatment apparatus includes: a liquid supply pump to supply a treatment liquid stored in a tank; a bubble tank into which the treatment liquid flows, and including a floating matter discharge port arranged near a liquid surface of the treatment liquid, and to discharge a floating matter floated on the treatment liquid; a microbubble generator arranged outside the bubble tank, and to generate microbubbles by mixing air into the treatment liquid supplied from the liquid supply pump; a separation tank connected the bubble tank at a lower portion of the bubble tank; and a circulation pipe configured to return the treatment liquid overflown from the liquid surface in the separation tank to the tank.

The water treatment system can have a tank having an elongated shape with two opposite ends and two transversally opposite sides; a flocculation chamber at one of the opposite ends of the tank, the flocculation chamber having at least one treated water inlet and a mixer and a separation chamber adjacent to the flocculation chamber inside the tank, the separation chamber having at least one treated water outlet. A flow straightener system can be provided having a transversally-oriented wall forming an overflow baffle and extending upwardly between the flocculation chamber and the separation chamber, the transversally-oriented wall having an upper edge and a plurality of vanes being vertically and longitudinally oriented, parallel to one another and transversally interspaced from one another along the upper edge of the wall, the vanes extending in at least one of the two transversally opposite sides of the tank.

Flotation separation apparatus and methods are described herein, comprising a vessel having a plurality of flow guides oriented vertically in the vessel, a liquid inlet at a lower part of the vessel, a gas inlet at the lower part of the vessel, a first liquid outlet at an upper part of the vessel, a second liquid outlet at the lower part of the vessel, and a gas outlet at the upper part of the vessel.

Methods for separating lean and fat from beef or other meats and the separation apparatus are disclosed. The methods use microbiocidal fluids to reduce or eliminate possible sources of contamination.

The serial multistage flotation process for eliminating hydrophobic particles from a stream of materials to be treated includes a step of introducing into one stage a layer of materials to be treated, originating either from a higher state or directly from the inlet of the system. There is an aeration step in which air extracted from the lower stages is mixed, diffused and dispersed in the layer of materials to be treated then escapes to the higher stage or to a foam discharge zone. After the aeration step, there is a deaeration step in which air is no longer introduced into the layer of materials to be treated before the departure thereof from one stage and that enables the discharge of the dispersed air to the higher stages or in the case of the highest stage to foam discharge zone. There is also a step of recovering the deaerated material.

A gas flotation tank is provided that includes a series of adjacent chambers which impart a rotational current therein. Each chamber is separated from a skim oil trough by a skimming weir. Each chamber comprises an alternating fluid communication device between adjacent chambers allowing fluid communication between adjacent chambers in the form of a communication port in the dividing wall between adjacent chambers and a chamber outlet in conjunction with a perforated plate and the outlet is positioned in fluid communication with the final chamber. An optional coalescing media may be positioned in or proximate the communication port to absorb or coalesce contaminants as they pass therethrough.

The present invention comprises a process and apparatus for separation of hydrocarbons from hydrocarbon-containing produced water, wherein in stage 1 the hydrocarbon-containing produced water is supplied with a gas-containing component, whereupon a gas- and hydrocarbon-containing produced water mixture is fed to an inlet tube (22, 27) in the center of a tank, whereupon the said mixture is tangentially distributed via at least one nozzle (7) and at least one baffle plate (8.1), whereupon separated hydrocarbons are conveyed to at least one outlet from the tank and cleaned water is conveyed to an outlet (12) from the tank.

An apparatus, such as a compact flotation unit, may include a tank having a fluid inlet. A cylinder may be disposed within the tank and have an open end. A first guide vane may be disposed about the cylinder, with the first guide vane having a portion axially aligned with the fluid inlet. A second guide vane may be disposed about the cylinder adjacent the open end thereof and may include a first end and a second end, with the first end of the second guide vane being axially offset from the second end of the second guide vane.

The present invention comprises a process and apparatus for separation of hydrocarbons from hydrocarbon-containing produced water, wherein in stage 1 the hydrocarbon-containing produced water is supplied with a gas-containing component, whereupon a gas- and hydrocarbon-containing produced water mixture is fed to an inlet tube (22, 27) in the center of a tank, whereupon the said mixture is tangentially distributed via at least one nozzle (7) and at least one baffle plate (8.1), whereupon separated hydrocarbons are conveyed to at least one outlet from the tank and cleaned water is conveyed to an outlet (12) from the tank.

A flotation machine includes a stator positioned in a tank adjacent a rotor. The stator has a plurality of vanes. Each of the vanes has a plurality of slots formed therein. Each of the slots has a shape that is elongated in a direction along the width of the vane in which the slot is formed. Each of the vanes is spaced apart from the other vanes to which that vane is adjacent. The vanes are positioned in series adjacent a periphery of the stator to define a central opening within the stator that is sized such that the rotor of a flotation machine may be positioned therein. The stator may be retrofitted onto a prior flotation machine installation. For instance, a stator may be offered for sale and then installed onto a flotation machine. A previous stator may be removed before the installation of the new stator.