Separation of dissolved and undissolved substances from liquids using high energy discharge initiated shock waves

A method for removing a dissolved organic liquid from a liquid solution with water, comprising,

• introducing a quantity of the liquid solution into a firing chamber of substantially confined volume,
• discharging a high energy pulse, in the range of microseconds in length, into the liquid solution, causing a shock wave accompanied by high turbulence to be produced and to move through the liquid solution in the firing chamber, accompanied by high intensity electro-magnetic radiation which travels through the liquid solution,
• thereby causing the dissolved organic liquid to be at least partially ionized and to react with oxygen present to be converted into water and gases, and
• venting the gases from the water.

A method for recovering precipitatable substances from a water solution, comprising,

• introducing successive quantities of the water solution into a firing chamber, with the solution containing dissolved substances from the group consisting of precious metals, toxic wastes, mineral salts, industrial wastewater and sewage,
• discharging an electrical current across electrodes in the firing chamber, in a sudden, high-energy discharge wherein the current arcs across the electrodes, causing a shock wave accompanied by high turbulence to be produced and to move through the liquid volume in the firing chamber, accompanied by high intensity electro-magnetic radiation which travels through the liquid volume,
• repeating the discharging step at a frequency of at least several times per minute, and moving successive quantities into and out of the firing chamber in an essentially continuous throughput,
• thereby causing the substances to be at least partially ionized, breaking down molecular bonds between the chemical compounds thus forming simpler compounds and some free elements to form different chemical substances, some of which are insoluble and precipitate out as particles from the water solution.

A method for removing oil from a water and oil mixture, comprising,

• adding sand to the water and oil mixture to form a water, oil and sand mixture,
• introducing a quantity of the water, oil and sand mixture into a firing chamber of substantially confined volume,
• discharging a high energy pulse, in the range of microseconds in length, into the liquid volume, causing a shock wave accompanied by high turbulence to be produced and to move through the liquid volume in the firing chamber, accompanied by high intensity electro-magnetic radiation which travels through the liquid volume,
• thereby causing the oil to be emulsified into fine oil particles and the fine oil particles to be adhered to the sand.

A method for treating liquids containing dissolved or undissolved substances in a process wherein high-intensity electrical energy is discharged into the liquid while contained in a chamber, in order to precipitate solids from the liquid, comprising,

• providing a rigid, shock-withstanding firing chamber capable of holding a volume of the liquid, with electrodes extending into the chamber for an arc discharge of electrical energy across the electrodes,
• moving liquid through the firing chamber via an inlet and an outlet of the chamber, in a substantially continuous flow,
• building up and discharging high-intensity electrical energy across the electrodes in the chamber, at a rate of at last a plurality of times per minute, with the discharge producing intense light energy in the chamber as well as a shock wave through the liquid in the chamber, tending to attack molecular bonding in substances contained within the liquid and to break down bonds to free compounds from solution and some elements from compounds, producing precipitates, and
• separating the solid precipitates from the liquid downstream of the chamber.