A method and apparatus is disclosed for separating an amount of a perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) from water which is contaminated with the substance. The method comprises the steps of: admitting an amount of the water, which includes an initial concentration of the substance, into a chamber via an inlet thereinto, and introducing a flow of gas into the chamber. The introduced gas induces the water in the chamber to flow, and produces a froth layer which is formed at, and which rises above, an interface with the said flow of water and of introduced gas in the chamber. The froth layer includes an amount of water, and also a concentrated amount of the substance in comparison compared with its initial concentration. The step of removal of at least some of the froth layer from an upper portion of the chamber occurs.

The invention relates to a device and method for filtering and/or purifying liquid. The device comprises: an outer housing provided with at least one outer opening; an inner housing which encloses an inner chamber, wherein the inner housing is provided with an inner opening; a purification chamber which extends between the outer housing and the inner housing, wherein the at least one outer opening debouches in the purification chamber and wherein the purification chamber is provided with a carrier material on which a biological purification film can form for filtering and/or purifying water; and wherein a side wall of the inner housing which is adjacent to the purification chamber is provided with one or more fluid throughfeed openings, and wherein, during use of the device, a substantially vortex-like fluid flow path is formed in the purification chamber, between the at least one outer opening and the fluid throughfeed openings.

A device and method for shortcut nitrogen removal and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria activity inhibition are disclosed herein. An embodiment of the present invention provides a hollow fiber diffuser comprising: a plurality of hollow fibers on which bacteria can be attached and grow; and an inlet capable of supplying gas to one sides of the plurality of hollow fibers, wherein the gas includes oxygen and carbon dioxide, nitrite can be produced by the oxygen, and the concentration of oxygen in the gas is adjusted by the oxygen and the carbon dioxide.

Exemplary embodiments describe apparatuses and related processes for improving mixing and sheer in a fixed film reactor. One process can include recycling at least a portion of a biogas product through at least one sparger below a fixed film zone in the fixed film reactor at conditions sufficient for mixing and sheering the film from an internal structure within the fixed film zone. Often, a cross-sectional area of the fixed film zone fills at least about 90% of a cross-sectional area of the fixed film reactor.

The efficiency of water disinfection can be significantly increased by supplying the ozone in combination with oxygen to an inlet of a cavitation pump or a line atomizer. A compressor can be introduced at an inlet of the cavitation pump or the line atomizer, compressing the gas mixture at a pressure higher than the pressure within pump or the atomizer. The compressed gases are provided to the inlet of the atomizer or the pump, where the compressed gases mix with the water and enter the cavitation pump or the line atomizer (where most of the dissolution of the gases happens). The compressor allows to increase the amount of oxygen and ozone provided to the pump or the line atomizer, increasing their dissolved concentration. In addition to the disinfecting properties, the higher level of oxygen correlates to an improved taste of the water.

A method of reducing selenium contamination in a waste water stream is described herein. The method includes channeling a flue gas stream through an absorber, contacting the flue gas stream with an aqueous alkaline-based slurry, such that any selenium byproduct in the flue gas stream forms a selenium compound within the aqueous alkaline-based slurry, controlling oxidation of the selenium compound in the aqueous alkaline-based slurry, and adding a precipitation agent to the aqueous alkaline-based slurry to cause the selenium compound within the aqueous alkaline-based slurry to precipitate.

Methods, systems, and apparatuses for temporarily increasing, on demand, the relative humidity of an area located proximate to a user in environments having lower than ambient relative humidity are provided by integrating a personal humidification circuit into a water delivery circuit to provide a diverted flow of water, and provide a flow of water vapor to a user, and returning the relative humidity-enhanced environment to a predetermined relative humidity by purging the environment.

The present invention relates to systems and methods for removing and recovering precious metals, such as platinum-group metals (PGMs), including palladium, from wastewater and waste streams. The invention also relates to systems and methods for recycling the recovered precious metals for catalytic applications.

The invention relates to methods, systems and apparatus for distributed management of raw water and internal combustion engine (ICE) gas emissions generated during industrial operations. One aspect of the invention at least partially utilizes a hot gas air knife to increase or partially increase surface area between a raw water and a hot gas in order to vaporize a proportion of the aqueous phase of the raw water and concentrate contaminants within a residual raw water concentrate. The water vapor generated by the vaporization process may be demisted, discharged directly to the atmosphere or alternatively condensed and captured for use. Another aspect relates to how the liquids and gasses interact to continuously flush the surfaces of the system which may help mitigate scaling issues. The invention may help facilitate rapid transfer of ICE combustion gas particulate and ICE combustion gas chemicals onto and into the raw water as it concentrates.

Disclosed are a water treatment apparatus and a process for treating process water with ozone and ultraviolet radiation. The apparatus comprises a reactor (4) having a first (5) and a second (6) reaction chamber. The first reaction chamber (5) has a UV lamp (1), an air inlet (30) and a gas outlet (23). An air/ozone conduit (34) is connected to the gas outlet (23), via which an air/ozone mixture (b) can be fed into a water inlet conduit (31). The second reaction chamber (6) is connected to the water inlet conduit (31) and a water outlet conduit (32). The inlet conduit (31) may contain a water filter (18) as well as a controllable circulation pump (16) designed to pump water in the reactor direction. The water filter (18) may be arranged between the circulation pump (16) and the reactor (4). A recirculation conduit (33) comprises a pump (10) pumping water towards the inlet conduit (31). It has a feed point (21) at which the air/ozone mixture (b) is feedable into the process water (d) or is in fluid communication with a fresh water conduit (35) via a fresh water feed point (9), which has a feed point (21) at which the air/ozone mixture (b) is feedable into fresh water (f) in the fresh water conduit (35).