Abstract:
A semi-permeable membrane process is provided that separates metal complexes having differing oxidation states, hi one implementation, the metal in the metal complexes separated in the retentate have an oxidation number of four or higher while the metal in the metal complexes passed by the membrane has an oxidation number of three or lower.
Abstract:
Streams (11) of natural gas contaminated with carbon dioxide can be to create Syngas (16). An available source (1) of flue gas and a C02- laden natural gas stream (11) are combined to deliver a composite near equal mixture of methane and C02 to a plasma reactor (15) or the like that will generate Syngas. When coupled with a Fischer-Tropsch reactor (40), the overall process provides a process for producing synthetic liquid hydrocarbons.
Abstract:
Methods of recovering precious metals from unconventional feed water sources. In approaches, the methods use a combination of one or more of ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and/or reverse osmosis membranes. The unconventional feed water source may be salt lake brines, coal-fired plant flue-gas scrubber blowdown water, high salinity brines, concentrated brine from desalination of seawater and the like sources. The recovered precious metals may include gold tetrachloride, gold sulfate, silver tetrachloride, silver sulfate, rare earth elements, or mixtures thereof.
Abstract:
Methods of recovering precious metals and/or lithium from unconventional feed water sources. In approaches, the methods use a combination of one or more of ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and/or reverse osmosis membranes. The unconventional feed water source may be salt lake brines, coal-fired plant flue-gas scrubber blowdown water, concentrated brine from desalination of seawater, high-salinity brines, and the like sources. The recovered precious metals may include gold tetrachloride, gold sulfate, silver tetrachloride, silver sulfate, rate earth elements, lithium, or mixtures thereof.
Abstract:
Methods of recovering lithium from a lithium source or a lithium-containing material using low pH solutions and membrane technologies to purify and concentrate the recovered lithium. The lithium sources may include a spent lithium-ion battery /cell, a lithium- containing mineral deposit, or other lithium containing materials. The processes described herein recovery the lithium after digestion of the lithium-containing material with a low pH solution through one or more acid-stable, semipermeable membranes.
Abstract:
A method for treating oil field produced wastewater containing high organics, silica, boron, hardness, and suspended and dissolved solids by applying three membrane types in series is provided. First, Ultrafiltration (UF) is applied to remove oil and suspended solids. Second, Nanofiltration (NF) is used to reject hardness, soluble iron and organics. Subsequently, the NF permeate is treated by a double pass Reverse Osmosis (RO) process. The first-pass is applied at a high temperature of about 82°C and low pH to remove the majority of the salts and silica. Then the feed is chilled, stripped of carbon dioxide and finally pH adjusted to 10 to maximize boron removal.