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Abstract

Provided is a method of removing carboxylic acids from effluent streams comprising the steps of pretreatment which may include chemical conditioning, clarification and filtering the effluent stream to remove suspended solid particles to provide a filtered stream. The filtered stream is subjected to membrane filtration to remove organic compounds having a molecular weight of greater than 150 while simultaneously permitting permeation of the membrane by the carboxylic acids to provide a membrane filtered stream. A reverse osmosis membrane is provided having a high pressure side and a low pressure side, and the membrane filtered stream is introduced to the high pressure side of the reverse osmosis membrane. The carboxylic acids are concentrated in the high pressure side of the reverse osmosis membrane. In a preferred embodiment, purified liquid (permeate) is neutralized and passed to the high pressure side of a second pass reverse osmosis membrane, producing a high-purity final permeate for plant reuse or discharge to surface water.

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First Claim