摘要 |
<p>A process for recovering small amounts of liquid contaminants from water, which are present in the water either as solute or as the disperse phase of an emulsion. The process comprises contacting the contaminated water with an effective amount of a particulate polyurethane liquid sorbent, by mixing the sorbent and contaminated water together. The sorbent is removed from the water, typically by a simple filtration step. If required, the water can be treated more than once. The recovered contaminating liquid can be separated from the sorbent by a centrifugation step, and the sorbent re-used. In a typical case the hydrocarbon content of water containing 10 % of emulsified diesel fuel can be reduced to less than 200 ppm in a single treatment.</p> |