Importance

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Abstract

A method for treating wastewater, comprising: (i) injecting a hydrate-forming gas (e.g., propane) into the wastewater under conditions of elevated pressure and reduced temperature to form a solid hydrate composed of the hydrate-forming gas and water from the wastewater; and (ii) separating the solid hydrate from the wastewater to result in removal of water from the wastewater, thereby resulting in partially dewatered wastewater, and optionally, (iii) lowering the pressure and/or raising the temperature of the solid hydrate to decompose the solid hydrate into reformed hydrate-forming gas and reformed water, and further optionally, recycling the reformed hydrate-forming gas for use in step (i) and/or capturing the reformed water from step (iii) and further decontaminating until suitable for release into waterway or for use in a process. The invention is also directed to an apparatus for practicing the method described above.

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First Claim