The recovery of target species, and related systems and methods, are generally described.

A system and method for water desalination using forward osmosis to address problems associated with scarcity of freshwater around the world. The system uses ammonium bicarbonate as the draw solution to draw out freshwater through a forward osmosis (FO) membrane from an amount of saltwater or other contaminated water initially directed through one side of the FO membrane. The ammonium bicarbonate draws the desalinated water through the membrane of the FO membrane. Brine or other solutes are directed away. The combination of desalinated water and ammonium bicarbonate is directed through a series of valves and pumps, including a heat pump, and through a hydrophobic membrane that allows freshwater (product water) to be obtained from the desalination process in a more cost-effective and efficient manner. The ammonium bicarbonate is recycled and reused to generate additional draw solution for additional batches of saltwater or contaminated water for desalination.

A platform for sequestering carbon dioxide using a body of water is described. The platform has a vessel for holding solid metal hydroxide and for exposing the solid metal hydroxide to a flow of water to create a solution of a metal hydroxide having a pH level. The solution containing metal hydroxide is released into the body of water, causing a reaction with the carbon dioxide present in the body of water, thereby producing metal carbonate/bicarbonate, thus sequestering the carbon dioxide. A choice of the metal in the metal hydroxide, a rate of the releasing the solution containing the metal hydroxide into the body of water, and a flow rate of the flow of water so that to substantially maintain the solution containing the metal hydroxide at the pH level that is defined as environmentally safe and not changing chemistry of seawater. A corresponding method is also provided.

A method of making a material for capturing carbon dioxide from the earth's atmosphere, comprises producing an acid and a base with an electrochemical acid-base generator; dissolving a mineral in the acid to produce a mineral rich solution, separating silica from the mineral rich solution to form a silica depleted solution; adding a first portion of the base to the silica depleted solution to remove impurities by precipitation, adding a second portion of the base until ferrous hydroxide (Fe(OH).sub.2) precipitates, then pausing base addition and removing the ferrous hydroxide precipitate from the solution. Then adding a third portion of the base to the iron-depleted solution to precipitate magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH).sub.2) and/or calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH).sub.2). Then recovering a salt solution and directing the recovered salt solution to the electrochemical acid-base generator to produce a new acid and a new base. The magnesium hydroxide and/or calcium hydroxide may be used to capture and sequester carbon dioxide from a CO.sub.2-containing gas (e.g., air) by forming a carbonate or from the ocean by forming bicarbonate.

A water treatment system for removing contaminant from a feed solution is provided. The system includes a hollow fiber membrane chemical reactor (HF-MCR) and a magnetic field generator; or a magnetic confinement-enabled column reactor (MCCR) comprising one or more column filters and a magnetic field generator. The magnetic field generator is arranged to produce a magnetic field for realizing a magnetically confined zone that results in a formation of a plurality of microwires comprising the zerovalent iron (ZVI) nanoparticles or a plurality of ZVI wires comprising ZVI microparticles. The plurality of microwires can be a magnetic catalyst to enable catalytic degradation and chemical immobilization of the contaminant. The plurality of ZVI wires can reduce aqueous As (As.sub.aq) concentration in the feed solution after the feed solution is pumped through the one or more column filters.

The present application discloses a two-phase sulfate reduction device and treatment method for preventing sludge calcification, which belongs to the technical field of wastewater treatment in environmental engineering. The present application combines a two-phase sulfate reduction anaerobic reactor with an alloy catalyst, and reasonably arranges a two-phase connection unit of the alloy catalyst within the device body. By using the special functions of the porous alloy catalyst material to release free electrons into a body of water and polarize the body of water, the electrostatic potential of the body of water is changed, sludge calcification during the wastewater treatment process is prevented, and the treatment efficiency of the anaerobic system for sulfate organic wastewater is ensured.

The present disclosure describes an electrochemical system and methods for the selective separation and simultaneous recovery of ionic constituents in a feed-, raw-, or wastewater. The system entails novel electrochemical configurations comprising various ion exchange membranes in concert with a voltage applied across a pair of electrodes. In some embodiments, the novel electrochemical system may include one or more of a pair of electrodes, a first membrane selectively permeable to a first wastewater constituent, a second membrane selectively permeable to a second wastewater constituent, a third membrane selectively permeable to a third wastewater constituent, a fourth membrane impermeable to ions that allows for the separation of a fourth constituent by preventing mixing between first and third product channels when a plurality of membrane stacks are utilized, and at least four spacing frames comprising a structural element, a gasket, and a flow channel.

A method for removing sulfates from seawater by immersing a barium adsorbent into produced water to adsorb the barium ions from the produced water. The adsorbent is combined with an acidic solution that pulls the barium ions into the acidic solution. The acidic solution containing barium ions is combined with seawater to precipitate the sulfate as barium sulfate (BaSO.sub.4).

A filtration membrane including a first layer having a triamine-functionalized polysilicate mesoporous material, a second layer including a polysulfone; and a third layer including a polyester terephthalate is described. An orthosilicate group of the triamine-functionalized polysilicate mesoporous material is bonded to a silicon atom of a silicon-containing triamine to form a triamine-functionalized polysilicate backbone, wherein the silicon-containing triamine and one or more tetramines are covalently crosslinked with terephthaloyl chloride to form a polyamide, and wherein the triamine-functionalized polysilicate mesoporous material has a hierarchical structure of MCM-41. The membrane is adapted for use selected from the use group consisting of oil and water separation, water treatment, desalination, and pharmaceutical filtration.

A method for phosphorus removal and recovery using an organic carbon source of urban sewage, including: first filling a biofilm reactor with sewage; stirring under anaerobic conditions, phosphorus being released from a polyphosphate biofilm using an organic carbon source in the sewage; discharging a portion of the sewage after the aforementioned treatment into a recovery tank and storing same as a recovery liquid; performing aerobic aeration on the remaining part of the sewage after anaerobic treatment, such that phosphorus is absorbed by the polyphosphate biofilm until the concentration of phosphorus reaches a requirement for discharge; turning off the aeration device and discharging the sewage; returning the recovery liquid to the biofilm reactor, simultaneously adding sewage to fill the reactor, and repeating the aforementioned steps multiple times; and obtaining a phosphorus recovery liquid when the concentration of phosphorus in the recovery liquid reaches the requirements for a phosphorus recovery process.