Patent ID: 8408395

Claim:
A process comprising separating at least one hydrophobic material from a mixture comprising the at least one hydrophobic material and at least one hydrophilic material, the process comprising: (A) preparing a slurry or dispersion of the mixture to be treated in at least one suitable dispersion medium; (B) contacting the slurry or dispersion from (A) with at least one solid, hydrophobic surface to bind the at least one hydrophobic material to be separated from the slurry or the dispersion, wherein the solid hydrophobic surface is an interior wall of a tube, a surface of a plate, a surface of a conveyor belt or an interior wall of a reactor; (C) removing the at least one solid, hydrophobic surface to which the at least one hydrophobic material is bound in (B) from the slurry or dispersion comprising at least one hydrophilic material; and (D) separating the at least one hydrophobic material from the solid, hydrophobic surface, wherein the at least one hydrophobic material present in the mixture is hydrophobicized by at least one substance before carrying out (B), which is at least one substance is made up of a radical and an anchor group having 1 to 3 reactive groups which interact(s) with the hydrophobic material to be separated off.