Patent ID: 9321663
Filing Date: 2016-04-26
CPC Classification: C02F

Claim Text:
1. A method of clarifying waste process water containing suspended and/or emulsified oils and/or oily solids, the method comprising: (a) adding a polycationic coagulant to the process water followed by an incubation period; (b) subsequent to the incubation period, adding a flocculant, comprising an acrylamide copolymer having a molecular weight of at least 4 million Daltons and a mole % of acrylamide of at least 50%, to the process water, and simultaneously introducing gaseous microbubbles into the process water, whereby, during subsequent formation and agglomeration of flocs of oil droplets and oily solid matter, the microbubbles become entrained within and adhere to the flocs; and c) separating a phase of flocculated oil and oily solid matter from a clarified aqueous phase; wherein the waste process water is produced-water from an oil sands mining operation.