Liquid purification or separation – Constituent mixture variation responsive
Patent
1985-04-03
1987-10-06
Sever, Frank
Liquid purification or separation
Constituent mixture variation responsive
2101951, 210197, 210259, 2105122, B04C 514, B04C 5081, B04C 513
Patent
active
046981527
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to oil recovery systems.
According to the present invention there is provided an oil recovery system including an inlet for crude oil from a well, a first separator connected to receive said crude oil admitted to said inlet and for separation of the crude oil into gas-containing, oil-containing and water-containing components, said first separator having a first outlet for said gas-containing component, a second outlet for said oil-containing component and a third outlet for said water-containing component, a second separator having an inlet connected to receive said water-containing component from said third outlet and arranged for separating said water-containing component into a water component and an oil component, said second separator having a fourth outlet for said separated oil component and a fifth outlet for said water component, a recycling line selectively couplable between the fifth outlet and the inlet to said second separator for recycling said water component back to the second separator, and means for controlling the selective coupling of the recycling line to the fifth outlet to effect either return of said water component to the second separator or to discharge the water component to a sixth outlet.
Preferably, the control means includes monitor means for monitoring contaminant oil content of said water component from the second separator and operable to return the water component, with contaminant oil, to the second separator inlet in the event that the contaminant oil content is above a predetermined level and to pass the water component to the sixth outlet in the event that it is below said predetermined level.
Preferably the second separator is a cyclone separator or a bank of cyclone separators. In the latter case, the second separator may include cyclone separators connected in parallel. Preferably, in that event, said monitor means is arranged to monitor the water component from one only of the bank of cyclone separators.
According to another aspect, there is provided a method of recovering oil, comprising feeding crude oil from a well to a first separator in which the crude oil separates into gas-containing, oil-containing, and water-containing components, feeding the water-containing component to a second separator of cyclone type to separate the component into oil and water, and selectively passing the separated water to discharge or recycling the separated water through the second separator.
The invention also provides, in combination, a bank of cyclone separators including a line connecting the inlets of the separators together, a line connecting together the separator outlets for one component to be separated, and a line connecting together the separator outlets for the other component to be separated.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the manner of interconnection of cyclone separators in a bank of cyclone separators in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an oil recovery system constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and
FIG. 3 is a diagram like FIG. 2 but illustrating a modification of the system of FIG. 2.
In FIG. 1, a bank 10 of three cyclone separators 12, 14, 16 is shown. The cyclone separators 12, 14, 16 may be substantially identical and may be of the form described in the complete specification of Australian patent application No. 12421/83.
The cyclone separators 12, 14, 16 each have a generally cylindrical first portion 18 with two tangential inlets 20, 22, portion 18 leading to a narrowed "underflow" outlet 24 at one end of the separator for outlet of a first component of a liquid mixture to be separated, a second "overflow" outlet 26 being provided at the other end of the separator for outlet of the other component of the liquid mixture. The outlets 24 are connected together in parallel by a line 28 and lines 30, 32 and 34 are provided connected to line 28
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