A process for reducing the occurrence of mixed phases when concentrating dairy streams is suggested, comprising the following steps (i) providing at least one evaporation reactor; (ii) providing at least two stacked containers, which can be individually controlled by an evaporation reactor, or by the evaporation reactors; by proceeding as follows: (a) continuously concentrating a dairy stream in an evaporation reactor R1 and feeding the concentrate such obtained into the first stacked container V1, draining the container discontinuously and processing the concentrate contained therein; (b) increasing the performance of the evaporation reactor R1 such that the concentrate obtained has a higher dry matter content; (c) shutting down, rinsing, and removing of product from the evaporation reactor R1 using water, and, subsequently, (d) feeding the concentrate, which had been diluted with the rinsing water, into another stacked container V3, where the mixed phase MP2 such obtained is gathered, and is then further processed or discharged.

A process for purification of waste water from dairy processing, which may include providing waste water from the dairy-processing industry that includes lactic acid and urea; adjusting the waste water to an alkaline pH value, while precipitating the lactic acid as a lactate; subjecting the waste water to a first reverse osmosis step, obtaining a lactate-containing first retentate and a lactate-free first permeate; adjusting the first permeate such obtained to an acid pH value; cooling the permeate that has been adjusted to an acid pH to a temperature within the range of 2 to 10 C.; subjecting the cooled first permeate to a second reverse osmosis step, obtaining a urea-containing second retentate and a second permeate that is practically completely free from organic loading; and, optionally, recycling the second permeate, reintroducing it into a dairy-processing procedure.

This invention pertains to an anti-scaling composition comprising a blend of a polyamino acid; an anionic carboxylic polymer; and a polymaleic acid. The blend is able to effectively stabilize calcium salts that lead to scale formation in evaporative systems. This three-component blend shows high levels of efficacy in acidic high conductivity waters found in many evaporative systems such as sugar and bio-refining.

A vermicomposting system for treating waste water streams that includes a pretreatment stage for converting liquid or semi-liquid organic waste streams into a feedstock for vermicomposting; a vermicomposting digestion stage having populations of worms and beneficial bacteria which consume and break down organic material and nutrients present in the feedstock from the pretreatment stage to create worm castings, vermicompost, and a liquid compost tea that contains plant nutrients, plant growth promoting substances, and beneficial bacteria; and a post-treatment stage in which the liquid compost tea is removed for use as an soil amendment or inoculant, or is further treated in a separate containment tank where nutrients and oxygen levels are controlled to increase specific bacterial and fungal populations.

A wastewater treatment arrangement for efficiently cleaning variously polluted partial streams of wastewater, in particular of industrial effluents, includes the following components: an electrodialysis unit; an accidental-damage reservoir, a buffer tank, wherein the buffer tank is designed such that it can be reached by partial streams of some of the wastewater indirectly by way of the electrodialysis unit and/or directly, and wherein the buffer tank is designed such that it can be reached by the partial streams of wastewater indirectly by way of the accidental-damage reservoir and/or directly, and wherein downstream of the buffer tank, a first flotation tank, an anaerobic reactor and an SBR unit are arranged in series before the outflow.

The invention provides a method of treating waste comprising the steps of: providing an electrochemical cell comprising a cathode, and an anode; supplying a waste stream comprising an organic compound which is a liquid or dissolved in a solvent and contacting the anode and cathode with the waste stream; electrochemically oxidising the organic compound at the anode; supplying oxygen to the cathode; electrochemically reducing the oxygen at the cathode; wherein the cathode comprises a poison resistant oxygen reduction catalyst.

A method for treating organic wastewater includes: proceeding with anaerobic fermentation on organic wastewater to obtain a fermentation liquid; nitrifying a portion of the fermentation liquid to obtain a first fermentation liquid containing nitrate nitrogen, and separating the remaining portion of the fermentation liquid to obtain a second fermentation liquid containing propionic acid; mixing the first and second fermentation liquids to obtain a mixture; and removing nitrogen and phosphorus from the mixture and then proceeding with sedimentation to obtain a sediment and a supernatant discharged as purified water. An organic wastewater treating system includes an anaerobic fermentation reactor, an aeration tank, a fermentation liquid separating equipment, a biological removal reactor for removing nitrogen and phosphorus, and a sedimentation tank. The mixing ratio of two fermentation liquids is controlled to achieve balance between carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus during the nitrogen and phosphorus removal process, achieving highly efficient and simultaneous removal of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus without additional carbon source.

The invention relates to a method for reducing fouling in a microbial fuel cell. The method comprises feeding of an influent comprising organic substance(s) into the microbial fuel cell (MFC), which comprises an anode and a cathode connected through an external electrical circuit with each other. Organic substance(s) are converted into electrical energy in the microbial fuel cell by using microorganisms, such as exoelectrogenic bacteria, and a treated flow is removed from the microbial fuel cell. A cleaning agent composition is fed simultaneously with the influent to the microbial fuel cell. The invention relates also to the cleaning agent composition and its use.

The present invention relates to methods for water treatment. in particular using a novel Thauera species that is capable of removing nitrogen via simultaneous nitrification and denitrification. The novel Thauera species may be further capable of phosphate accumulation in the cells. The invention also relates to an isolated Thauera sp. strain SND5 (accession number: CGMCC 21549). The invention further relates to reactors for use in carrying out the methods as described herein and bioprocesses that are carried out using said reactor.

Introduced here are systems for treating a wastewater stream to produce an effluent stream. A treatment system can include a sensor for measuring a characteristic of the wastewater stream and/or the effluent stream, a pump for supplying a chemical additive to the wastewater stream, and a controller for varying the flow rate of the chemical additive based on real-time analysis of measurements generated by the sensor. The characteristic could be, for example, turbidity, pH, total suspended solids (TSS), etc. Some embodiments of the treatment system further include a flow meter for measuring flow of the wastewater stream. In such embodiments, the controller may vary the flow rate of the chemical additive based on the measurements generated by the sensor and the flow meter.