Patent ID: 7794603

Claim:
A method for purification of contaminated water by hydrate formation and separation of hydrates from contaminated water enriched with contaminants characterized in that the water to be purified is passed via a first pipe into a first container with suitable pressure and temperature conditions to obtain hydrate formation, in said container the water is mixed with a hydrate-forming compound which is supplied via a second pipe, wherein at least a portion of the mixture of hydrate and contaminated water is recycled to said first container via a third pipe as hydrate-forming seed, and the rest is passed to a separator where the mixture is separated into contaminated water and a hydrate, the hydrate is passed to a second container via a fourth pipe, in said second container the temperature is raised so that the hydrate dissociates into pure water and hydrate-forming compound, the hydrate-forming compound from said second container is passed back to the first container for hydrate formation via said second pipe and the pure water is taken out as a product.