A sludge drying apparatus includes a drying unit for drying sludge as it is transferred by a transfer belt. The drying unit includes a box that covers an upper surface of the transfer belt and extends in a direction of extension of the transfer belt, an air inlet formed at one end of the box, an air outlet formed at the other end of the box, a fan provided outside the box for sucking air in the box from the air outlet and thereby intaking outside air from the air inlet into the box, a dividing portion for dividing the air discharged from the fan into two parts, and a return inlet formed between the air inlet and the air outlet for returning one of the two parts of the air divided by the dividing portion into the box.

An embodiment provides a method for determining a filter life, including: introducing an aqueous sample into a filtration device comprising at least one filter and one or more sensors located upstream of the at least one filter, wherein the one or more sensors are capable of measuring a component of the aqueous sample; measuring the component of the aqueous sample using the one or more sensors; identifying a load on the at least one filter based upon the measuring of the component of the aqueous sample and at least one filtration characteristic; and determining the filter life of the at least one filter based upon the identifying. Other aspects are described and claimed.

The present invention is directed to a ligated metal-organic framework (MOF) for use in removing both anionic and cationic species from a liquid or liquid stream. The present invention also provides methods for placing the MOF on a substrate to form a MOF-containing product that can be used in the removal of certain species from a given fluid. The MOF may be a Zr-based MOF, such as NU-1000, for removal of certain anions, such as oxy-anions, or having an attached thiosulfonyl-thiol (—SO.sub.2—S—R.sub.2—SH, where R.sub.2 is an alkyl group) ligand for complexation with certain cationic species in addition to the anions. The substrate may be any substrate to which a given MOF may be attached, including inert polypropylene polymer resin beads, a macroscopic fabric such as a mesh material or mesh filter, and a molecular fabric.

TA method for treating an aqueous solution containing ammonium perchlorate and optionally nitrate ions, the method having a nitrification/denitrification sequence then a step of reducing perchlorates, the liquid effluent obtained at the end of this step of reducing perchlorates being subjected to a first membrane filtration, the liquid effluent obtained following this first membrane filtration being put into contact, in a reactor in aerobic conditions, with microorganisms able to carry out the oxidation of organic materials, then the liquid effluent leaving this reactor being subjected to a second membrane filtration, the first membrane filtration and the second membrane filtration being carried out on the same membrane filtration unit.

A wastewater treatment system, including a wastewater phase-separation device, may be used to combine at least one primary treatment chemical and wastewater to produce cleaned water and a sludge byproduct. The wastewater treatment system may also include a wastewater dewatering device that may be used to combine the sludge byproduct and at least one secondary treatment chemical to produce a Medium to High Solids Content Sludge without excess water. A method for producing sludge for cement manufacturing may include combining wastewater and at least one primary treatment chemical to form a liquid phase and a solid phase, where the liquid phase includes clean water and the solid phase includes a sludge byproduct, separating the liquid phase from the solid phase, combining the solid phase with at least one secondary treatment chemical to form an intermediate that contains excess water, and removing the excess water from the intermediate to form a Medium to High Solids Content Sludge.

A liquid processing apparatus comprised of a housing comprising a bottom wall, a side wall, and a central wall dividing a volume enclosed by the bottom wall and side wall into a treatment chamber and a discharge chamber; and a cartridge disposed in the treatment chamber. The cartridge may be comprised of a base wall and a lateral wall forming a media chamber, and a plurality of passageways through at least one of the base wall and side wall rendering the media chamber in communication with the treatment chamber. A treatment medium is contained in the media chamber. The cartridge may be comprised of a plurality of divider walls partitioning the media chamber into media compartments. The housing may be further comprised of a plurality of locating walls extending vertically upward from the bottom wall of the housing and between the divider walls of the cartridge.

The present invention relates to a method for reducing the amount of organic compounds in wastewater, comprising providing a wastewater comprising NaCl in a concentration of at least 6% (w/v), contacting said hypersaline wastewater with a halophilic microorganism, and reducing the 5 amount of organic compounds by said halophilic microorganism in the presence of at least one substrate which has been added to the wastewater and which allows for the growth of said halophilic microorganism, wherein the reduction of the amount of organic components is carried out as a continuous process in bioreactor.

This invention provides processes for treating a mixture of produced water and blowdown water comprising introducing produced water (PW) into blowdown water (BD) for forming a PW-BD water mixture, softening the PW-BD water mixture, subjecting the PW-BD water mixture to activated carbon filtration and reverse osmosis membrane desalination. The process generates a product water and a brine by-product.

Extraction of platinum-group elements, e.g. Pd, by adsorption from acidic aqueous solutions, using chelating acrylic fibers having amidoxime substituents followed by recovery by elution with an HCl-thiourea solution. From about 10% to 100% of the acrylic fiber CN are converted to amidoxime by reaction with NH.sub.2OH (hydroxylamine) in H.sub.2O/MeOH solution in the range of 30° C.-90° C. for from 15 min to 72 hrs. The adsorptive loading of elements onto the fiber and the efficiency of elution therefrom is substantially 100%, in multiple cycles of adsorption/elution. The novel fiber/extraction process is rapid, lending it to a continuous recovery operation. A portion of the CN groups of may be converted to carboxylate groups by reaction with NaOH. Short lengths of fiber are loaded into a vertical column and the pregnant solution introduced. Upon breakthrough, the fibers may be eluted, washed and recycled hundreds of times without removal from the column.

Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus that uses a brine from a well that is used to both generate electricity and recover valuable minerals present in the brine. The method and apparatus uses a hydrophobic membrane to separate water vapor from the brine to concentrate the brine that is then used to recover the minerals.