Method for coagulating a colloidal suspension
AssigneeMobil Oil Corporation
InventorRichard Irwin Leavitt
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Abstract
Water-soluble polymers that thicken reversibly in aqueous solution on alteration of the degree of alkalinity are manufactured by treating an aqueous suspension of protein with the enzymes elaborated extracellularly by a species of the genus Pseudomonas. The water soluble polymers resulting therefrom are biodegradable. They are useful for stabilizing emulsions, as flow-control agents in water base paint, and as anti-redeposition agents in laundry detergents. They are particularly useful as coagulants for colloidal suspensions of solids such as the phosphate slimes byproduct of the large scale hydraulic mining of phosphate deposits. They are also particularly useful as flow control agents in the water flooding process for the recovery of petroleum.
Claims7
A method for coagulating a colloidal suspension, which comprises adding to the colloidal suspension water-soluble nitrogen-containing polymers formed by contacting, under conversion conditions, a water-dispersible protein with the extracellular enzymes formed by the microorganism Psendomonas fabricans No. 492 (A.T.C.C. No. 21984), said water-soluble polymers being further characterized by reversibly thickening in aqueous solution on adjustment of the degree of alkalinity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.