US 10,947,142 B2Granted

Apparatus and methods for treating wastewater

AssigneeSuncor Energy Inc.

InventorBrian Keith Lilly

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Abstract

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.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A flow-through method for reducing a selenium content of a fluid-input stream, the method comprising steps of:

a. adding an oxidizing agent to the fluid-input stream for generating a first-product stream;
b. adding a pH-adjusting agent to either the fluid-input stream or the first-product stream;
c. adding a coagulating agent to the first-product stream for generating a second-product stream with selenium-containing solids phase therein;
d. creating floc solids from the selenium-containing solids phase by adding a chelating agent and a flocculating agent to the second-product stream for generating a third-product stream;
e. dissolving a gas into the third-product stream by introducing the gas into the third-product stream and applying a first pressure;
and
f. generating bubbles of the dissolved gas by releasing the first pressure and separating the floc solids from the third-product stream for generating a fourth output stream,
wherein the first-product stream has an oxidation-reduction potential of greater than about +275 millivolts (mV), a pH of between about 3.0 and about 5.0, and a lower selenium content than the fluid-input stream.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.