Patent ID: 11866347
Assignee: THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC C  B  Y | IPC B  C

Claim 0:
1. A separator for separating one or more components selected from particulate material, hydrophobic material, non-polar material, microorganisms, or viruses from a mixture of water and the one or more components or from a mixture of a polar liquid and the one or more components, wherein the separator comprises a vessel, a single downstream porous retainer extending across the vessel, and a single continuous layer consisting of a metal hydroxide hydrate gel extending fully across the single downstream porous retainer to ensure that all filtrate has passed through the single continuous layer of metal hydroxide hydrate gel, the single continuous layer of the metal hydroxide hydrate gel being positioned upstream of the single downstream porous retainer, the single continuous layer of the metal hydroxide hydrate gel retaining the one or more components on the single continuous layer of the metal hydroxide hydrate gel whilst the water or the polar liquid passes through the single continuous layer of the metal hydroxide hydrate gel to thereby separate the one or more components from the water or the polar liquid, wherein the metal hydroxide hydrate gel is selected from a gel comprising one or more of aluminium hydroxide hydrate, magnesium hydroxide hydrate, zinc hydroxide hydrate, manganese hydroxide hydrate, cobalt hydroxide hydrate and nickel hydroxide hydrate, wherein the separator further comprises a single upstream retainer placed upstream from the single continuous layer of the metal hydroxide hydrate gel.