HIGH VELOCITY ELECTROSTATIC COALESCING OIL/WATER SEPARATOR

• Main Authors: MANEN, David R, TAGGART, Davis L, SAMS, Gary W, TREVAS, David A, WALLACE, Harry G
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 24.07.2019
• Subjects: PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; SEPARATION; TRANSPORTING

An apparatus and method for separating water from an oil-and-water mixture includes at least two elongated separator vessels (64, 66) oriented at an incline and connected to one another so that an upwardly flowing oil predominant fluid passes from the first separator vessel (64) to the second separator vessel (66) where further electrostatic separation of water from the oil predominant fluid occurs. Each vessel has an electrode (60) at its upper end preferably connected to a different voltage source. The inlet to each vessel is located relative to the electrode (60) to provide an up flow or a down flow vessel. Additionally, the first vessel (64) may be at a different elevation than the second vessel. An additional vessel may be included with output from the first vessel bypassing the additional vessel, the second vessel, or both. Baffles (134) may be added in the water collection portion (138) of each vessel to reduce turbulence and settling distance.