Patent ID: 8557123

Claim:
A method of removing particulate matter from a fluid, comprising: providing an activator polymer capable of complexing with the particulate matter; treating a first fluid stream with the activator polymer to form a first treated fluid stream comprising activator polymer complexed with the particulate matter; providing a tether polymer that is capable of interacting with the activator polymer; adding the tether polymer to a second fluid stream containing anchor particles so that the tether polymer coats the anchor particles, thereby forming a second treated fluid stream comprising coated anchor particles; and mixing the first treated fluid stream and the second treated fluid stream to form removable complexes comprising the particulate matter and the anchor particles bound together by the interaction of the activator polymer and the tether polymer, wherein the activator polymer is an anionic or cationic polymer; wherein when the activator polymer is an anionic polymer, the tether polymer is a cationic polymer and when the activator polymer is a cationic polymer, the tether polymer is an anionic polymer; and wherein the method further comprises removing the removable complexes comprising the particulate matter from the fluid.