Provided is a method of processing stillage from an ethanol production process. The method comprises treating stillage comprising oil, protein, and water upstream of a separation, concentration or evaporation step with at least one organic coagulant and at least one flocculant, thereby forming treated thin stillage comprising solids which include at least a portion of the oil and protein; and clarifying the treated stillage via a solid/liquid separation process thereby forming clarified stillage and a separated solids phase comprising at least a portion of the protein from the stillage.

A dendrimeric carbon dot-polyamide membrane, a method for making the dendrimeric carbon dot-polyamide membrane, and a method for producing purified water are provided. An exemplary carbon dot-polyamide membrane includes polyamidoamine dendrimeric carbon dots and a polyamide membrane. The polyamidoamine dendrimeric dots are dispersed throughout the polyamide membrane.

Methods of forming a nanocomposite of a base material and a plurality of nanoparticles are provided. In embodiments, the method comprises combining a first input stream of flowing fluid comprising a base material having nucleation sites, a second input stream of flowing fluid comprising a nanoparticle precursor material, and a third input stream of flowing fluid comprising a nanoparticle nucleation agent, to form an output stream of flowing fluid; heating or sonicating or both heating and sonicating the output stream for a period of time; and collecting a nanocomposite formed within the fluid of the output stream, the nanocomposite comprising the base material and a plurality of nanoparticles directly anchored onto a surface of the base material via the nucleation sites. The nanocomposites are also provided.

Described are methods of membrane distillation for processing organic liquids, hydrophobic distillation membranes useful for membrane distillation methods, and methods of preparing the hydrophobic distillation membranes.

Methods are provided for treating intimately dispersed mixtures of water, bitumen, and fine clay particles, such as oil sands mature fine tailings (MFT). Select methods use dissolved silicate ions and a base (alkali), optionally in combination with a biopolymer, to flocculate a slurry. A mixing regime is disclosed involving the addition to MFT of silicate ions in solution and alkali, to initiate aggregation/destabilization of clay particles. Methods are exemplified that provide distinct sediment layers in conjunction with the release of residual bitumen (for example 40-50% of the initial bitumen content). In these exemplified embodiments, a densely packed bottom layer containing 75 wt. % solids showed high yield stress values (3.5-5.5 kPa) and entrapped little residual bitumen (0.2-0.3 wt. %). The methods accordingly segregate a material suitable for reclamation.

Methods to increase the efficiency and throughput of hydrocarbon stream cracking by inhibiting the formation of, or resolving an emulsion, in an ethylene production quench water system. The method includes contacting a non-alkoxylated branched or linear polyethylenimine (PEI) with a quench water composition from the quench water system under conditions suitable to prevent the formation of an emulsion or to resolve the quench water composition into two immiscible phases.

A process for removing oil and other organics especially lipids from process steams comprising lipids, brown grease, and water is disclosed and a process to remove metals and organics from leachate from landfills and other waste sites that generate contaminated water streams. The process involves adjusting pH and using electrical fields generated by a device comprising electrodes to induce gas bubbles. The gas bubbles facilitate the movement of lipids toward the surface of the solution where they may be skimmed off and recovered.

A method of separating an oil and water mixture including contacting the oil and water mixture with a membrane, where only the water in the oil and water mixture passes through the membrane. The membrane includes an alumina support and polypyrrole. A layer of the polypyrrole is hydrogen bonded to an outer layer of the alumina support, where particles of the polypyrrole are in the form of globules having a longest dimension of 100 to 300 nm.

An adsorption filter according to the present invention is an adsorption filter including a molded body containing activated carbon and a binder. A pore volume of the adsorption filter at a pore diameter of 15 m or more and 30 m or less at a volume basis of the adsorption filter under measurement by mercury intrusion porosimetry is 0.06 cm.sup.3/cc to 0.30 cm.sup.3/cc.

An anode, a flow cell including the anode, and a method for electrocatalytic treatment of bio-oil and/or wastewater are disclosed. The anode comprises RuO.sub.2 particles on a titanium support. The method includes flowing a process stream through the flow cell in the absence of added hydrogen, at a temperature of 0 C. to 50 C. and atmospheric pressure, and applying a potential across the flow cell such that the anode is positive with respect to the cathode, thereby electrocatalytically oxidizing compounds in the process stream to produce a treated process stream at the anode and generating hydrogen gas as a byproduct at the cathode.