- Email: [email protected]
Diesel fuel filter and water separator
patents+technologies Nanotechnalagy rescues polluted aquifers In the fight to decontaminate polluted underground aquifers, which are essential potable water sources throughout the world, scientists at Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, USA, may have struck gold with their nanoparticle technology. The remedintion process involves pmiiping the nanoparticlcs, which are minute, magnetic, iron-based particles that are 1000 times thinner than a human hair, into the contaminated groundwater. When applied to water contaminated with carcinogenic industrial solvents, for example, the nanoparticles remove chlorine and convert the solvents into harmless hydrocarbons and chlorides, commonly found in table salt. The nanoparticles have a composition that is 99.9%, iron and 0.1% palladium, so they have a rel~~tivcly large surface area and a high rate of reactivity. According to the researchers, using the nanoparticle technology could also reduce the cost of a clean-up project from US$20 million to $5 million. The effectiveness of the ne\j’ nanotechnology was demonstrated at the New Jersey manufacturing plant of Trance Co, where the groundwater was contaminated with the toxic solvent trichloroethene (TCE). Twelve hours after the nanoparticles were injected water samples from monitoring wells showed that 96% of the TCE had been converted to harmless ethylene and cthane. This is said to be the first time that nanoparticle technology has been applied to groundwater clean-up. Lehigh’s researchers plan to test their remediation method at other contamnated groundwater sites, and arc
exploring the use of nanoparticles to neutralize explosives and treat nuclear waste sites.
Air particles’ impact on the global water supply A recent study based on work carried out by the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX), a collaboration involving over 150 scientists worldwide, suggests that man-made atmospheric pollution may be playing a more significant role in weakening the Earth’s water cycle than previously thought. According to INDOEX, there is strong evidence that tiny aerosols primarily made up of black carbon can lead to a weaker hydrological cycle, which has direct effects on the Earth’s water availability and quality, a major environmental issue of the 2lst century Aerosols were initially thought to act purely as cooling agents, offsetting global warming, but researchers now believe that they have a bigger impact on the Earth’s water supply It is thought that the aerosols are reducing the amomit of sunlight reaching the ocean, which provides the energy for the hydrological cycle. INDOEX researcher\ have documented a manmade brownish-gray haze layer of about 10 million km2 over the IndianAsian region. The particles within the haze were found to be causing a threefold decrease in the level of solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface, as compared with the top of the atmosphere. The aerosols, typically in the submicrometer to micrometer range, were a mixture of sulphates, nitrates, organic particles, fly ash and mineral dust, formed by fossil fuel combustion and rural biomass burning.
Llama dung combats water pollution Llama droppings may hold the key to purifying water polluted by mine runoff in Bolivia, thanks to work by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. The natural regeneration technique involves the creation of low-tech bioreactors constructed of wetlands, with a substrata of compost from horses or cattle and limestone. The scientific basis behind the regeneration technique is ‘bacterial sulphate reduction’. Bacteria living in the compost and limestone use dissolved sulphate, which is found in abundance in mine water, as an energy source, producing sulphide. The sulphide then reacts with the dissolved iron and traps it as iron sulphide in the compost bed. The process also raises the pH in the water and generates alkalinity. The water supply of the city of La Paz, Bolivia, runs through an abandoned mine, where it picks up harmful iron and cadmium. Unlike the UK, manure from Llamas rather than from cattle or horses is more readily and more cheaply available in the Andes, so a team led by Professor Paul Younger of Newcastle University began to test whether llama dropping5 were as effective as cattle or horse manure in treating contaminated mine water. A series of test tanks in which limestone gravel was buried under 0.5 m layers of llama droppings Lvere contructed. The researchers found that the llama manure successfully promoted the activity of the sulphate-reducing bacteria, and raised the average pH of the water from 3.2 to 6.3.
Patent Summaries Complex Shaped Fiber for Particle and Molecular Filtration, AlliedSignal Inc, USA. WO 01/28657. Date of Publication: 26 April 2001.
Exhaust Gas Dust Collecting Device, NKK Corp, Japan. WO 01/32293. Date of Publication: 10 May 2001.
Device for Detaching Filter Cakes, Outokumpu Technology GmbH, Germany. WO 01/30476. Date of Publication: 03 May 2001.
Diesel Fuel Filter and Water Separator, UFI Universal Filter International SpA, Italy. WO 01/34273. Date of Publication: 17 May 2001.
Membrane Filtration Element having Sleeve and Socket Members, Stork Friesland BV, The Netherlands. WO 01/32299. Date of Publication: 10 May 2001.
Filtration+Separation
Element Backflush Filter Device, Hydac Filtertechnik Germany. WO 01/37965. Date of Publication: 31 May 2001.
GmbH,
May 2002
17
exploring the use of nanoparticles to neutralize explosives and treat nuclear waste sites.
Air particles’ impact on the global water supply A recent study based on work carried out by the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX), a collaboration involving over 150 scientists worldwide, suggests that man-made atmospheric pollution may be playing a more significant role in weakening the Earth’s water cycle than previously thought. According to INDOEX, there is strong evidence that tiny aerosols primarily made up of black carbon can lead to a weaker hydrological cycle, which has direct effects on the Earth’s water availability and quality, a major environmental issue of the 2lst century Aerosols were initially thought to act purely as cooling agents, offsetting global warming, but researchers now believe that they have a bigger impact on the Earth’s water supply It is thought that the aerosols are reducing the amomit of sunlight reaching the ocean, which provides the energy for the hydrological cycle. INDOEX researcher\ have documented a manmade brownish-gray haze layer of about 10 million km2 over the IndianAsian region. The particles within the haze were found to be causing a threefold decrease in the level of solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface, as compared with the top of the atmosphere. The aerosols, typically in the submicrometer to micrometer range, were a mixture of sulphates, nitrates, organic particles, fly ash and mineral dust, formed by fossil fuel combustion and rural biomass burning.
Llama dung combats water pollution Llama droppings may hold the key to purifying water polluted by mine runoff in Bolivia, thanks to work by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. The natural regeneration technique involves the creation of low-tech bioreactors constructed of wetlands, with a substrata of compost from horses or cattle and limestone. The scientific basis behind the regeneration technique is ‘bacterial sulphate reduction’. Bacteria living in the compost and limestone use dissolved sulphate, which is found in abundance in mine water, as an energy source, producing sulphide. The sulphide then reacts with the dissolved iron and traps it as iron sulphide in the compost bed. The process also raises the pH in the water and generates alkalinity. The water supply of the city of La Paz, Bolivia, runs through an abandoned mine, where it picks up harmful iron and cadmium. Unlike the UK, manure from Llamas rather than from cattle or horses is more readily and more cheaply available in the Andes, so a team led by Professor Paul Younger of Newcastle University began to test whether llama dropping5 were as effective as cattle or horse manure in treating contaminated mine water. A series of test tanks in which limestone gravel was buried under 0.5 m layers of llama droppings Lvere contructed. The researchers found that the llama manure successfully promoted the activity of the sulphate-reducing bacteria, and raised the average pH of the water from 3.2 to 6.3.
Patent Summaries Complex Shaped Fiber for Particle and Molecular Filtration, AlliedSignal Inc, USA. WO 01/28657. Date of Publication: 26 April 2001.
Exhaust Gas Dust Collecting Device, NKK Corp, Japan. WO 01/32293. Date of Publication: 10 May 2001.
Device for Detaching Filter Cakes, Outokumpu Technology GmbH, Germany. WO 01/30476. Date of Publication: 03 May 2001.
Diesel Fuel Filter and Water Separator, UFI Universal Filter International SpA, Italy. WO 01/34273. Date of Publication: 17 May 2001.
Membrane Filtration Element having Sleeve and Socket Members, Stork Friesland BV, The Netherlands. WO 01/32299. Date of Publication: 10 May 2001.
Filtration+Separation
Element Backflush Filter Device, Hydac Filtertechnik Germany. WO 01/37965. Date of Publication: 31 May 2001.
GmbH,
May 2002
17