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.

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.

The invention concerns a flocculation formulation. The invention also concerns the treatment of mine tailings in the form of aqueous effluents comprising solid particles. With the method of the invention, it is possible to separate all or part of the water from an aqueous effluent comprising solid particles.

Disclosed are methods to convert nitrogen in a wastewater stream to an arginine-enriched polypeptide, which includes supplying a nitrogen-enriched wastewater stream; culturing an organism in the waste stream that produces an arginine-enriched polypeptide to produce the arginine-enriched polypeptide; and removing the produced arginine-enriched polypeptide from the wastewater stream to create a processed wastewater stream. The methods also include a method to make an arginine-enriched polypeptide enriched fertilizer by flowing the effluent from the culturing step over a cation exchange material to allow binding of the arginine enriched polypeptide to the cation exchange material; and collecting arginine-enriched polypeptide to form the arginine-enriched polypeptide enriched fertilizer. The method also includes enhancing the growth or production of a plant using the fertilizer containing the arginine-enriched polypeptide.

Providing new distilling and/or de-scaling methods and systems herein is a matter of allowing for thermal balance without the need to fill a hot wet emulsion separation system with more steam and heat rejection devices to waste steam. A solutions set begins with efficiently utilizing three types of waste: (1) de-oiled and/or cooled down produced water; (2) blowdown steam from drum-type boilers (DBs); and (3) return condensate of dry steam from the DBs. It ends with: (1) removing calcium hardness, magnesium hardness and silica, thereby recovering them as useful minerals; and (2) producing distillate for viscous oil recovery by steam injection and de-scaled hot brine for improved oil recovery by hot water flooding and/or other related methods. The vehicle to attain this solutions' set is a multi-effect distillation train comprises a backward feed section along with two flashing stages.

Providing new distilling and/or de-scaling methods and systems herein is a matter of allowing for thermal balance without the need to fill a hot wet emulsion separation system with more steam and heat rejection devices to waste steam. One embodiment begins with efficiently utilizing three types of waste: (1) hot produced water along with its inherited thermal energy; (2) blowdown steam from drum-type boilers (DBs); and (3) return condensate of dry steam from the DBs. It ends with: (1) removing calcium hardness, magnesium hardness and silica, thereby recovering them as useful minerals; and (2) producing distillate for viscous oil recovery by steam injection and de-scaled hot brine for improved oil recovery by hot water flooding and/or other related methods. The vehicle to attain this set of solutions is a recycle brine multi-effect distillation (RB-ME) train comprises a forward feed section and a backward feed section along with two flashing stages.

Implementations of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus and a method for reducing a selenium-content of a fluid-input stream. The present disclosure includes components and steps for performing chemical modifications of a fluid-input stream and further components and steps for performing physical modifications of a chemically-manipulated fluid stream. When the fluid-input stream has a selenium content the chemical modification of the fluid-input stream drives at least a portion of the selenium content into a selenium-containing solids phase. The chemical modifications include at least oxidation, coagulation, chelation and flocculation. The present disclosure also includes components and steps for performing physical modifications that separate and remove some or all of the selenium-containing solids phase from the liquid phase, which reduces the selenium content of the liquid phase.

Methods are herein provided for preparing a material for casting a flat-sheet, extruding a solid-fiber, and/or extruding a hollow-fiber utilizing a chlorinated aqueous amine solution as an effective solvent to form a crystalline polymorph structure of the material. This material in the form of, for example, an effective vapor permeable membrane can be used in membrane distillation to desalinate saline streams.

A process for obtaining a coagulant of natural origin based on tannins from the polymerization of Acacia mearnsii extract, monoethanolamine, and formaldehyde is characterized by its metal-free properties and an active material content of 28 to 32% by weight obtained from the polymerisation of an Acacia mearnsii extract, an amino compound and an aldehyde. The product obtained is a highly efficient coagulant for the purification of wastewater and drinking water.

A process for obtaining a coagulant of natural origin based on tannins from the polymerization of Acacia mearnsii extract, monoethanolamine, and formaldehyde is characterized by its metal-free properties and an active material content of 28 to 32% by weight obtained from the polymerisation of an Acacia mearnsii extract, an amino compound and an aldehyde. The product obtained is a highly efficient coagulant for the purification of wastewater and drinking water.