U.S. Department of Energy

Somerset International Finance Designated Activity Company

James C Fisher

Ranjani V Siriwardane

David A Berry

George Alan Richards

David Osborne

Geoff Orr

James Graham

Methods of dewatering tailings, including tailings streams that may include a clay, ultra-fine particles, or both. The methods may include providing a tailings stream, dewatering the tailings stream with a dewatering apparatus to produce a first cake and a first residual effluent stream, contacting the first residual effluent stream with one or more additives, and dewatering the first residual effluent stream with a solid bowl centrifuge to produce a second cake and a second residual effluent stream. The methods may include providing a tailings stream, contacting the tailings stream with one or more additives, and dewatering the tailings stream with a solid bowl centrifuge to produce a first cake and a first residual effluent stream.

Methods and systems of dewatering tailings

A method for the removal of HO and COfrom a gaseous stream comprising HO and CO, such as a flue gas. The method initially utilizes an HO removal sorbent to remove some portion of the HO, producing a dry gaseous stream and a wet HO removal sorbent. The dry gaseous stream is subsequently contacted with a COremoval sorbent to remove some portion of the CO, generating a dry COreduced stream and a loaded COremoval sorbent. The loaded COremoval sorbent is subsequently heated to produce a heated COstream. The wet HO removal sorbent and the dry COreduced stream are contacted in a first regeneration stage, generating a partially regenerated HO removal sorbent, and the partially regenerated HO removal sorbent and the heated COstream are subsequently contacted in a second regeneration stage. The first and second stage regeneration typically act to retain an initial monolayer of moisture on the various removal sorbents and only remove moisture layers bound to the initial monolayer, allowing for relatively low temperature and pressure operation. Generally the applicable HO sorption/desorption processes may be conducted at temperatures less than about 70&#xb0; C. and pressures less than 1.5 atmospheres, with certain operations conducted at temperatures less than about 50&#xb0; C.

[object Object]

The disclosure utilizes a hydroxide sorbent for humidification and COremoval from a gaseous stream comprised of CO and COprior to entry into a water-gas-shift reactor, in order to decrease COconcentration and increase HO concentration and shift the water-gas shift reaction toward the forward reaction products COand H. The hydroxide sorbent may be utilized for absorption of COexiting the water-gas shift reactor, producing an enriched Hstream. The disclosure further provides for regeneration of the hydroxide sorbent at temperature approximating water-gas shift conditions, and for utilizing HO product liberated as a result of the COabsorption.

Minimization of steam requirements and enhancement of water-gas shift reaction with warm gas temperature CO2 removal

Growing community of inventors

Morgantown, WV, United States of America

James C Fisher