A closed-loop system and method for heating of target contaminant zones having environmental contaminants of concern present in the groundwater and the soil by thermal conduction, and subsequent enhancements of physical, biological and chemical processes to attenuate, remove and degrade contaminants in the target contaminant treatment zones, is disclosed. The system and method collects solar or other heat and transfers the heat via a closed-loop and a set of borehole exchangers to subsurface soil in the proximity of and/or directly to the target contaminant treatment zones. The target contaminant treatment zone may comprise contaminated soil, contaminated groundwater in an aquifer, or industrial waste comprising water and/or solids. Solar collectors or heat exchangers capturing waste heat from industrial processes may be used as the heat source.

A closed-loop system and method for heating of target contaminant zones having environmental contaminants of concern present in the groundwater and the soil by thermal conduction, and subsequent enhancements of physical, biological and chemical processes to attenuate, remove and degrade contaminants in the target contaminant treatment zones, is disclosed. The system and method collects solar or other heat and transfers the heat via a closed-loop and a set of borehole exchangers to subsurface soil in the proximity of and/or directly to the target contaminant treatment zones. The target contaminant treatment zone may comprise contaminated soil, contaminated groundwater in an aquifer, or industrial waste comprising water and/or solids. Solar collectors or heat exchangers capturing waste heat from industrial processes may be used as the heat source.

The present disclosure concerns synthesis, anion binding features, liquid-liquid extraction of salts, and anti-corrosion character of aryl-triazole bicyclic macrocycles of Formula (I) and related compounds:

##STR00001##

The present disclosure concerns synthesis, anion binding features, liquid-liquid extraction of salts, and anti-corrosion character of aryl-triazole bicyclic macrocycles of Formula (I) and related compounds:

##STR00001##

Systems and methods of performing temperature swing solvent extraction (TSSE) descaling of produced water and desalination of high-salinity brines, e.g., those having a total dissolved solids (TDS) greater than about 250,000 ppm are capable of producing descaled water products including less than about 5% weight percent TDS. The brine/produced water feedstreams and combined with a solvent having temperature-dependent water solubility at a temperature T.sub.L. Water is extracted from the feedstream into the solvent to form a water-in-solvent extract component and a raffinate component, from which a solid phase can be precipitated as more water is portioned in the solvent and basicity increases. Heating of the water-in-solvent extract component reduces the solubility of the water therein, producing a biphasic mixture of dewatered solvent and descaled water that can be separated. Because these systems and methods do not require a phase change of water, these products are achieved with significantly higher energy efficiencies when compared to evaporation-based thermal methods.

A process for the treatment of wastewater (S1) formed during the production of starches, in particular of chemically modified starches, and which contains dissolved salts and organic compounds, in which process it is proposed that the wastewater (S1) or pretreated wastewater (S1) containing substantially the dissolved salts and the organic compounds of the wastewater (S1) is subjected to a membrane separation process in which a separation of the wastewater (S1) supplied to the membrane separation process into a first volume flow (S3) with a higher concentration of dissolved salts in relation to the supplied wastewater (S1) and a second volume flow (S2) with a reduced concentration of dissolved salts in relation to the supplied wastewater (S1) is performed, wherein the first volume flow (S3) is subjected to thermal treatment for the separation of the dissolved salts and of a third volume flow (S9) which contains a fraction of the organic compounds of the wastewater (S1). By means of the invention, a process for the treatment of the wastewater (S1) from the production of modified starches with recovery of utilizable contents is provided.

A process for the treatment of wastewater (S1) formed during the production of starches, in particular of chemically modified starches, and which contains dissolved salts and organic compounds, in which process it is proposed that the wastewater (S1) or pretreated wastewater (S1) containing substantially the dissolved salts and the organic compounds of the wastewater (S1) is subjected to a membrane separation process in which a separation of the wastewater (S1) supplied to the membrane separation process into a first volume flow (S3) with a higher concentration of dissolved salts in relation to the supplied wastewater (S1) and a second volume flow (S2) with a reduced concentration of dissolved salts in relation to the supplied wastewater (S1) is performed, wherein the first volume flow (S3) is subjected to thermal treatment for the separation of the dissolved salts and of a third volume flow (S9) which contains a fraction of the organic compounds of the wastewater (S1). By means of the invention, a process for the treatment of the wastewater (S1) from the production of modified starches with recovery of utilizable contents is provided.

Disclosed is a method for treating water, including the extraction of at least two ionic species, the ionic species including an anionic species and a cationic species and being present in the water to be treated, the method especially including a step of mixing a liquid hydrophobic organic phase and the water to be treated, the water to be treated being in the liquid state, in order to subsequently obtain liquid treated water and a hydrophobic liquid organic phase loaded with the ionic species, and a step of thermal regeneration of the organic phase loaded with chemical species. Also disclosed are compounds and compositions that can be used in the method.

The invention relates to an anti-blocking seawater desalination device based on graphene filtering, comprising heating device, solar heat-collecting device, fresh water condensation heat-exchange device and thermal-expansion and cold-shrinkage control valve mechanism; the heating device can fully heat and distill seawater, the sprayed seawater is distilled by graphene heat-conduction layers to improve the distillation efficiency and avoiding blocking; the distilled water vapor enters into fresh water condensation heat-exchange device to exchange heat with seawater, increasing the seawater temperature, making full use of the heat in water vapor, and increasing water vapor condensation speed; the distilled concentrated seawater enters into the thermal-expansion and cold-shrinkage control valve mechanism, the flow of seawater entering into the heating device is controlled by the concentrated seawater temperature, when the temperature is too high, the flow of the seawater entering into the heating device increases, and when the temperature is too low, the flow decreases.

The invention generally relates to methods of removing potassium, rubidium, and/or cesium, selectively or in combination, from brines using tetrafluoroborates. Also disclosed are methods of producing potassium, rubidium, and/or cesium chlorides using ionic liquids and exchange media. This invention also generally relates to treated geothermal brine compositions containing reduced concentrations of silica, iron, and potassium compared to the untreated brines. Exemplary compositions of the treated brine contain a concentration of silica ranging from about 0 mg/kg to about 15 mg/kg, a concentration of iron ranging from about 0 mg/kg to about 10 mg/kg, and a concentration of potassium ranging from about 300 mg/kg to about 8500 mg/kg. Other exemplary compositions of the treated brines also contain reduced concentrations of elements like rubidium, cesium, and lithium.