6098results about "Water/sewage treatment by magnetic/electric fields" patented technology

A device and method for removing metalliferous particles from a powder so that the powder can be reused. A contaminated powder fluid stream flows down tube (6 / 7) into zones A, B and C adjacent the surface of a magnet (4). The flow flows past the surface of the magnet (4) and is directed towards the surface of the magnet (4) by baffles (10A, 10B). The magnet (4) separates metallic particles from powder particles and these metallic particles are removed from the face of the magnet (4) by scraper bars (21) conveyed by endless belts (22) supported by roller sets (23). The device can also include a fan (5) for promoting the movement of air in a counter direction to the delivered powder mixture.

This invention relates to methods for reducing the presence of a compound in an ionically conductive material, e.g., for use in iontophoretic devices, wherein the presence of the compound interferes with detecting a selected analyte. Removal of the compound can typically take place either during or after the manufacture of the ionically conductive material or an assembly comprising this material. Also disclosed are methods for generating selectively permeable barriers on the reactive faces of electrodes. Further, this invention relates to hydrogels comprising one or more biocides, as well as assemblies containing such hydrogels.

Methods of utilizing magnetic particles or beads (MBs) in droplet-based (or digital) microfluidics are disclosed. The methods may be used in enrichment or separation processes. A first method employs the droplet meniscus to assist in the magnetic collection and positioning of MBs during droplet microfluidic operations. The sweeping movement of the meniscus lifts the MBs off the solid surface and frees them from various surface forces acting on the MBs. A second method uses chemical additives to reduce the adhesion of MBs to surfaces. Both methods allow the MBs on a solid surface to be effectively moved by magnetic force. Droplets may be driven by various methods or techniques including, for example, electrowetting, electrostatic, electromechanical, electrophoretic, dielectrophoretic, electroosmotic, thermocapillary, surface acoustic, and pressure.

The present invention comprises methods and systems that use acoustic radiation pressure.

A method and apparatus is disclosed for increasing combustion efficiency in internal combustion engines and external combustors resulting in increased fuel economy and reduced exhaust pollutants. The same principles and apparatus of the invention are used in the exhaust stream to further reduce pollutants.

Systems and methods for extracorporeal processing of blood or other body fluid for the treatment of conditions, such as sepsis, autoimmune disease, or toxemia related to kidney failure, liver failure, or drug overdose are provided. In an extracorporeal treatment system, a fraction of a body fluid is passed into a treatment fluid, at least a portion of which is then passed through a sorbent suspension reactor for treatment by a sorbent suspension. The treatment fluid circuit can be maintained at a fixed volume, which enables accurate fluid balance between the patient and the extracorporeal circuit. Some or all of the treatment fluid, optionally also containing nutrients and / or therapeutic agents, is returned to the patient. In a peritoneal dialysis system, dialysate is passed into a patient's peritoneal cavity, recovered from the cavity, passed through a sorbent suspension reactor in accordance with the invention, and returned to the cavity.

A laboratory automation system that is capable of carrying out clinical chemistry assays, immunoassays, amplification of nucleic acid assays, and any combination of the foregoing, said laboratory automation system employing at least one of micro-well plates and deep multi-well plates as reaction vessels. The use of micro-well plates as reaction vessels enables the laboratory automation system to assume a variety of arrangements, i.e., the laboratory automation system can comprise a variety of functional modules that can be arranged in various ways. In order to effectively carry out immunoassays by means of micro-well plates, a technique known as inverse magnetic particle processing can be used to transfer the product(s) of immunoassays from one micro-well of a micro-well plate to another.

A process and system for purifying water is disclosed. For example, in one embodiment, the process may be used to remove a divalent salt, such as calcium sulfate, from a water source in order to prevent the divalent salt from precipitating during the process. The water source, for instance, may be fed to an ion separating device, such as an electrodialysis device. In the electrodialysis device, an ion exchange takes place between the divalent salt and another salt, such as a monovalent salt to produce two concentrated salt streams that contain salts having greater solubility in water than the divalent salt. In one embodiment, the two salt streams that are produced may then be combined to precipitate the divalent salt in a controlled manner. During the process, various other components contained within the water feed stream may also be removed from the stream and converted into useful products. In one particular embodiment, the process is configured to receive a byproduct stream from a reverse osmosis process.

Fluid-handling methods and devices for ultrasonic manipulation of fluid-borne particles comprise a fluid-handling manifold and an ultrasonic particle manipulator defining an ultrasonic cavity within the manifold. Fluid-borne particles introduced into the manifold are manipulated by controlling ultrasonic standing waves at the ultrasonic cavity. Cavities having non-uniform configurations, asymmetric standing waves and / or multiple ultrasonic cavities within the manifold are operative to control the movement of the fluid-borne particles, optionally including collecting and holding such particles, transferring particles through an intersection from one channel to another, etc. Solid phase extraction (SPE) particles, biological particles and other fluid-borne particles can be manipulated within the fluid-handling manifold.

Systems and methods for extracorporeal processing of blood or other body fluid for the treatment of conditions, such as sepsis, autoimmune disease, or toxemia related to kidney failure, liver failure, or drug overdose are provided. In an extracorporeal treatment system, a fraction of a body fluid is passed into a treatment fluid, at least a portion of which is then passed through a sorbent suspension reactor for treatment by a sorbent suspension. The treatment fluid circuit can be maintained at a fixed volume, which enables accurate fluid balance between the patient and the extracorporeal circuit. Some or all of the treatment fluid, optionally also containing nutrients and / or therapeutic agents, is returned to the patient. In a peritoneal dialysis system, dialysate is passed into a patient's peritoneal cavity, recovered from the cavity, passed through a sorbent suspension reactor in accordance with the invention, and returned to the cavity.

A method and apparatus for generating plasma in a fluid. The fluid (3) is placed in a bath (2) having a pair of spaced electrodes (4, 6) forming a cathode and an anode. A stream of bubbles is introduced or generated within the fluid adjacent to the cathode. A potential difference is applied across the cathode and anode such that a glow discharge is formed in the bubble region and a plasma of ionized gas molecules is formed within the bubbles. The plasma may then be used in electrolysis, gas production, effluent treatment or sterilization, mineral extraction, production of nanoparticles or material enhancement. The method can be carried out at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The electrodes may carry means to trap the bubbles in close proximity. Partitions may be present between the electrodes.

The present invention relates to surface assisted fluid loading and droplet dispensing on a droplet micro actuator. A droplet actuator is provided and includes one or more electrodes configured for conducting one or more droplet operations on a droplet operations surface of the substrate. The droplet actuator further includes a wettable surface defining a path from a fluid reservoir into a locus which is sufficiently near to one or more of the electrodes that activation of the one or more electrodes results in a droplet operation. Methods and systems are also provided.

The invention relates to a process for sorting and separating a mixture of (n, m) type single-wall carbon nanotubes according to (n, m) type. A mixture of (n, m) type single-wall carbon nanotubes is suspended such that the single-wall carbon nanotubes are individually dispersed. The nanotube suspension can be done in a surfactant-water solution and the surfactant surrounding the nanotubes keeps the nanotube isolated and from aggregating with other nanotubes. The nanotube suspension is acidified to protonate a fraction of the nanotubes. An electric field is applied and the protonated nanotubes migrate in the electric fields at different rates dependent on their (n, m) type. Fractions of nanotubes are collected at different fractionation times. The process of protonation, applying an electric field, and fractionation is repeated at increasingly higher pH to separated the (n, m) nanotube mixture into individual (n, m) nanotube fractions. The separation enables new electronic devices requiring selected (n, m) nanotube types.

Methods are provided for aligning carbon nanotubes and for making a composite material comprising aligned carbon nanotubes. The method for aligning carbon nanotubes comprises adsorbing magnetic nanoparticles to carbon nanotubes dispersed in a fluid medium to form a magnetic particle-carbon nanotube composite in the fluid medium; and exposing the composite to a magnetic field effective to align the nanotubes in the fluid medium. The method for making a composite material comprising aligned carbon nanotubes comprises (1) adsorbing magnetic nanoparticles to carbon nanotubes to form a magnetic particle-carbon nanotube composite; (2) dispersing the magnetic particle-carbon nanotube composite in a fluid matrix material to form a mixture; (3) exposing the mixture to a magnetic field effective to align the nanotubes in the mixture; and (4) solidifying the fluid matrix material to form a nanotube / matrix material composite comprising the aligned nanotubes which remain aligned in the absence of said magnetic field.

A water treatment system provides treated or softened water to a point of use by removing a portion of any hardness-causing species contained in water from a point of entry coming from a water source, such as municipal water, well water, brackish water and water containing foulants. The water treatment system typically treats the water containing at least some undesirable species before delivering the treated water to a point of use. The water treatment system has a reservoir system in line with an electrochemical device such as an electrodeionization device. The water treatment system has a sensor or a set of sensors for measuring at least one property of the water or an operating condition of the treatment system. The water treatment system also has a controller for adjusting or regulating at least one operating parameter of the treatment system or a component of the water treatment system to optimize the operation and performance of the system or components of the system to supply water tailored to quality requirements.

A method and apparatus for demixing an aqueous solution is provided. The aqueous solution has at least two aqueous phases. The method comprises applying acoustic energy to the aqueous solution. The apparatus comprises a mechanism for applying acoustic energy to the aqueous solution until the aqueous solution is demixed to clarity.

The present invention provides an apparatus for purifying nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA or proteins such as enzymes and antibodies from microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria or animal and plant tissues, the apparatus being capable of fast processing of a plurality of samples. More specifically, the present invention provides an apparatus for purifying nucleic acids or proteins using magnetically attractable particles, the apparatus comprising a plurality of piston pumps; a plurality of nozzles capable of having a plurality of disposable tips which are automatically attachable / detachable; and a mechanism which is capable of dispensing a desired amount of a reagent to be used subsequently in the next step into the same number of sections as that of the samples with high accuracy and at a high rate, while a mixture of a sample and a reagent are being mixed (stirred) by the pumps and nozzles, the apparatus being capable of rapidly processing a plurality of samples, wherein a series of steps from mixing (stirring) of the magnetically attractable particles and concentration of the sample to purification is automated with reduced wastes.

Fluid-handling methods and devices for ultrasonic manipulation of fluid-borne particles comprise a fluid-handling manifold and an ultrasonic particle manipulator defining an ultrasonic cavity within the manifold. Fluid-borne particles introduced into the manifold are manipulated by controlling ultrasonic standing waves at the ultrasonic cavity. Cavities having non-uniform configurations, asymmetric standing waves and / or multiple ultrasonic cavities within the manifold are operative to control the movement of the fluid-borne particles, optionally including collecting and holding such particles, transferring particles through an intersection from one channel to another, etc. Solid phase extraction (SPE) particles, biological particles and other fluid-borne particles can be manipulated within the fluid-handling manifold.

A fluid control and processing system for controlling fluid flow among a plurality of chambers comprises a body including a fluid processing region continuously coupled fluidicly with a fluid displacement region. The fluid displacement region is depressurizable to draw fluid into the fluid displacement region and pressurizable to expel fluid from the fluid displacement region. The body includes at least one external port. The fluid processing region is fluidicly coupled with the at least one external port. The fluid displacement region is fluidicly coupled with at least one external port of the body. The body is adjustable with respect to the plurality of chambers to place the at least one external port selectively in fluidic communication with the plurality of chambers. One or more of the chambers may be a processing chamber which includes two ports configured to selectively engage the at least one external port of the body, and a fluid processing material such as an enrichment material or a depletion material. In some embodiments, one or more chambers may include a separation channel, and an electric field may be applied across the separation channel.

A sub picture element electrode directly connected to a thin film transistor is disposed between a floating sub picture element electrode capacitively coupled to a control electrode and a gate bus line in order to prevent injection of electric charges from the gate bus line to the floating sub picture element electrode. Moreover, a shield pattern electrically connected to an auxiliary capacitance bus line is formed between the floating sub picture element electrode and a data bus line. This shield pattern avoids injection of electric charges from the data bus line to the floating sub picture element electrode.

A method and apparatus for extracting, identifying, and manipulating proteins or peptides from a solution uses paramagnetic beads having a coating with an affinity for the target component. In one embodiment, paramagnetic beads coated with C18 are used to adsorb proteins and peptides. The beads can be used to purify, immobilize and assay antibodies. By cycling the beads, many times greater molar amount of binding partner may be separated from a solution. A magnetic probe is used to capture the beads and transfer the beads to selected processing stages.

A microfluidic device for separating target components from a source fluid includes one or more source channels connected to one or more collection channels by one or more transfer channels. The target components of the source fluid can be magnetic or bound to magnetic particles using a know binding agent. A source fluid containing magnetically bound target components can be pumped through the source channel of the microfluidic device. A magnetic field gradient can be applied to the source fluid in the source channel causing the magnetically bound target components to migrate through the transfer channel into the collection channel. The collection channel can include a collection fluid that is stagnant until a predefined volume of source fluid is processed or a predefined volume of target components accumulate in the collection channel, at which point collection fluid can be pumped into the collection channel to flush the target components out of the collection channel. The target components can be subsequently analyzed for detection and diagnosis.

A system and method for handling magnetic particles, as in an immunoassay. A remover having a magnetic body and covering sleeve is inserted in a vessel containing magnetic particles and a liquid. The remover is moved up and down with the particles adhered to agitate the liquid and improve adherence of the particles.

The present invention relates to bead incubating and washing on a droplet actuator. Methods for incubating magnetically responsive beads that are labeled with primary antibody, a sample (i.e., analyte), and secondary reporter antibodies on a magnet, on and off a magnet, and completely off a magnet are provided. Also provided are methods for washing magnetically responsive beads using shape-assisted merging of droplets. Also provided are methods for shape-mediated splitting, transporting, and dispensing of a sample droplet that contains magnetically responsive beads. The apparatuses and methods of the invention provide for rapid time to result and optimum detection of an analyte in an immunoassay.

A method for removing a solute from a fluid using magnetically conditioned coagulation includes magnetically conditioning the fluid by applying a conditioning magnetic field to enhance the precipitation of solute particles for coagulation; adding a coagulant to the fluid before, during, or after application of the conditioning magnetic field to coagulate the increased available solute particles to form colloids; and collecting the colloids for removal from the fluid.

This is a method of filtration of a liquid comprising steps of sequential filtration of said liquid through at least one deep bed medium producing at least one first filtrate followed by at least one membrane medium filtration producing at least one second filtrate, wherein said membrane medium is at least periodically within said deep bed media Many types of deep bed and membrane media can be used. The domain of using contact clarification (direct filtration) can be expanded towards greater solids concentration. Operation and backwash, is simplified, continuous filtration becomes possible. Water can be water from natural source water, process water, wastewater, aqueous or non-aqueous suspensions, emulsions, solutions. Treatment can include mechanical interception of suspended particles, chemical, physical chemical, electrochemical, and biological processes. In water and wastewater processing, control over suspended solids, BOD, COD, nitrogen and phosphorus compounds, bacteria and viruses, heavy metals, color, and other constituents can be dramatically improved as compared to conventional processes. The method can be accommodated in new and modified existing treatment systems.

The present invention discloses a method and apparatus for separating particles and dissolved matter from a produced water fluid stream. Specifically, the present invention includes a first pressure source which transports untreated produced water or contaminated aqueous fluid into a separator annulus with a filter element disposed therein. The untreated fluid is placed under appropriate pressure sufficient to produce turbulent flow, increased particle kinetics and / or cavitation allowing the desired fluid to penetrate and pass into and through the filter media. The treated fluid is then transported to a collection tank. The contaminant matter retained by the filter media may be removed by the nearly instantaneous reverse pressurization of the separator annulus by a second pressure source thereby removing the contaminant particles away from contact with the filter media, and which may then be transported to a waste collection tank or a separator for further treatment.

The invention discloses a process to implement and maintain water bodies larger than 15,000 m3 for recreational use, such as lakes or artificial lagoons, with excellent color, transparency and cleanness properties at low cost, which comprises the following steps:a.—providing a structure able to contain a large water body larger than 15,000 m3;b.—feeding the structure of step (a) with inlet water having iron and manganese levels lower than 1.5 ppm and turbidity lower than 5 NTU;c.—measuring water pH, ideally it should be within a range lower than 7.8;d.—adding an oxidizing agent to the water contained in the structure of step (a), with which a 600 mV minimal ORP is controlled in water for a minimal period of 4 hours and in maximal cycles of 48 hours;e.—adding a flocculating agent in concentrations within 0.02 and 1 ppm with maximal frequencies of 6 days and cleaning the bottom of the structure of step (a) with a suction device to remove precipitated impurities from the bottom of said structure, together with the additional flocculants and;f.—generating a displacement of surface water containing impurities and surface oils by means of the injection of inlet water according to step (b), which generates said displacement in such a way to remove said surface water by means of a system for impurities and surface oils removal arranged in the structure of step (a), which together with step (e) replaces traditional filtering.The present invention also discloses a structure to contain large water bodies comprising a system for the removal of impurities and surface oils by means of skimmers and the suction device to clean said structure.