Basalt selectively adsorbs organic toxic materials, such as dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, arsenic, mercury, chromium, copper, nickel, zinc, cadmium, lead, and the like, from substances such as sediment, which contains water and the toxic materials.

Basalt selectively adsorbs organic toxic materials, such as dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, arsenic, mercury, chromium, copper, nickel, zinc, cadmium, lead, and the like, from substances such as sediment, which contains water and the toxic materials.

A process for removing silica and reducing total hardness of a natural or waste water containing silica and scale-forming ions comprises adding (i) magnesium hydroxide or a precursor of magnesium hydroxide and (ii) a soluble aluminate compound or a precursor of aluminate to said water while maintaining the pH of said stream at pH>8 to produce a layered double hydroxide in situ, wherein the layered double hydroxide contains the scale-forming ions in a lattice of the layered double hydroxide and silica is incorporated in the lattice of the layered double hydroxide as an interlayer anion and/or bound by the layered double hydroxide via one or more binding modes, wherein the process further comprises a recycling and regeneration step and/or a hydroxide addition step.

Compositions and methods for removing phosphates, nitrates and heavy metals from aqueous solutions.

Disclosed are a system and method for efficient nitrogen and carbon removal and phosphorus recovery of source-separated fresh urine by biochemical combination. The system includes a functionally zoned membrane aerated biofilm reactor for in-situ nitrogen and carbon removal, a source separation toilet, a source-separated urine storage tank, a phosphorus recovery reactor, a calcium salt solution tank, a water production tank, and a control system. The membrane aerated biofilm reactor is divided into an upper part and a lower part, a micro-aerobic environment is formed in the upper part while an anaerobic environment is formed in the lower part, and thus nitrogen and carbon can be removed only in the membrane aerated biofilm reactor. The system disclosed by the present disclosure can achieve the goal of removing nitrogen and carbon by 95% and more without additional carbon source, and can meet the demand of in-situ sewage treatment on a train.

A process for simultaneously removing silica and reducing total hardness of a natural or waste water containing silica and scale-forming ions is described. The process comprises adding (i) magnesium hydroxide or a precursor of magnesium hydroxide and (ii) a soluble aluminate compound or a precursor of aluminate to said water while maintaining the pH of said stream at pH>8 to produce a layered double hydroxide in situ, wherein the layered double hydroxide contains the scale-forming ions in a lattice of the layered double hydroxide and silica is incorporated in the lattice of the layered double hydroxide as an interlayer anion and/or bound by the layered double hydroxide via one or more binding modes.

A method to improve the solid/solid separation of an amorphous aluminium trihydroxide containing suspension from a gypsum containing suspension in a saturated calcium sulphate solution without the need for a dewatering step following the solid-solid separation.

A particulate nanocomposite material comprising, as determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD): elemental carbon (C); elemental nickel (Ni) in a cubic crystalline phase; a cubic nickel oxide (NiO) crystalline phase; an orthorhombic calcium borate (CaB.sub.2O.sub.4) crystalline phase; and, a magnesium borate (MgB.sub.2O.sub.4) crystalline phase. The particulate nanocomposite material is characterized in that, based on the total number of atoms in the nanocomposite material: the atomic concentration of carbon is from about 1 atomic percent (at. %) to about 10 at. %; the atomic concentration of nickel is from about 1 at. % to about 10 at. %; the atomic concentration of boron (B) is from about 1 at. % to about 10 at. %; the atomic concentration of magnesium (Mg) is from about 5 at. % to about 15 at. %; and, the atomic concentration of calcium (Ca) is from about 1 at. % to about 10 at. %.

Method for treating water to reduce the dissolved silica content thereof, the method being characterised in that it comprises at least one step of adsorbing the dissolved silica, the step consisting in passing the water through a reactor housing an adsorbent granular material consisting of grains of iron hydroxide (III) and/or iron oxyhydroxide (III) and at least one step of regenerating the adsorbing power of the granular material, the step consisting in bringing the granular material into contact with a base and at least one chloride.

A porous particulate nanocomposite material includes, as determined by X-ray diffraction, an orthorhombic CaB.sub.2O.sub.4 crystalline phase; an orthorhombic Co.sub.3(BO.sub.3).sub.2 crystalline phase; an orthorhombic PbO.sub.2 crystalline phase; and, a cubic Co.sub.3O.sub.4 crystalline phase. The porous particulate nanocomposite material is in the form of particles having a matrix phase with a smooth surface and in which sharp-edged plates are embedded and protrude.