Liquid purification or separation – Processes – Including controlling process in response to a sensed condition
Patent
1989-09-15
1991-10-08
Dawson, Robert A.
Liquid purification or separation
Processes
Including controlling process in response to a sensed condition
210 961, 210143, 2105121, 210787, 210805, 73 611R, 137 88, B01D 17038
Patent
active
050552023
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for separating phases of a multi-phase liquid.
Particularly, but not exclusively, the invention concerns separation of a water component from an oil-water mixture such as the production liquid from an oil well head. Characteristically, such liquid contains substantial quantities of gas and water in admixture with oil components and as a first step in the production process it is usual to undertake a separation process which has as its object to remove substantial quantities of the gas and water so as to obtain an output liquid in which the oil at least predominates and at least the water component is reduced to a relatively small fraction.
Conventionally, the above described separation is effected in a separation tank in which the water component settles to the bottom of the tank, from which it can be readily drawn off. Such tanks are, however, bulky, heavy and generally inconvenient of use, particularly in circumstances, such as on off-shore oil platforms, where space and weight constraints are important factors.
It has been proposed to use cyclone separators for separating oil and water components from a mixture thereof, and such separators are coming into increasing use because of the considerable efficiency they can possess and the generally smaller and lighter separating facilities which can be constructed using them. Principally, however this use is confined to separating processes further removed from the initial separating process above described. In that regard, the water component, once removed by the initial separating process, will contain some residual oil, typically a few percent, and it is in the separation of this residual oil that cyclone separators have thus far found principal application.
The failure of the cyclone separator to thus far become widely used for the initial separation of water from production liquid, notwithstanding the advantages to be attained from such use, arises because it has not been found possible to design cyclone separators which can effectively operate on the production liquid. In part, this is because it appears generally more difficult to design effective separators for dealing with high oil concentrations ("dewatering" separators) than it is to design separators for dealing with high concentrations of water ("de-oiling" separators). In part too, the problem appears to arise because of the greater variation in composition of the production flow liquid as compared to the relatively lesser variation in composition of the liquid upon which deoiling separators usually operate. De-oiling separators typically operate on a liquid which is predominately water with a few percent oil and they are effective to reduce the oil content to a few tens of parts per million. On the other hand, dewatering separators may be called on to separate an oil/water mixture having a water content varying between 20 to 70%. At least adaptions of designs suitable for deoiling applications can be made effective for mixtures with water contents at the lower end of the last-mentioned range, but these may not always be effective for handling water contents at the upper end of this range.
An object of the present invention is to provide separating apparatus, and a method of separating, utilizing cyclone separators and which permits the aforementioned problem to be at least partly ameliorated.
In one aspect, the invention provides a method of separating components from a liquid mixture by use of a cyclone separator comprising the step of adding to said mixture a quantity of at least one said component whereby to improve the efficiency of separation.
In another aspect the invention comprises a method of separating components from a liquid mixture by use of a cyclone separator, comprising determining the efficiency of separation of at least a first of the components from the mixture and upon determination that the efficiency has departed from a predetermined efficiency adding to the incoming mixture to the separator a quantity of one of said comp
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Carroll Noel
Carroll Robert W.
Kalnins Charles M.
Conoco Specialty Products Inc.
Dawson Robert A.
Drodge Joseph
Holder John E.
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