Innovative Engineering Vessel Internal Electrostatic Coalescer ( VIEC ) Novel oil-water separation technology (original) (raw)
Related papers
Electrostatic enhancement of coalescence of water droplets in oil: a review of the technology
Chemical Engineering Journal, 2002
The technology for electrostatic enhancement of coalescence of water droplets in oil emulsions is critically reviewed. Historically, the electrostatic coalescer was invented for the petroleum-related industries in California [US Patent 987 115 (1911)]. Nowadays, this technology is generally considered for the separation of an aqueous phase dispersed in a dielectric oil phase with a significantly lower dielectric constant than that of the dispersed phase. Various designs have been introduced, with most using alternating current (AC) electric fields with mains frequency (50 or 60 Hz). The direct current (DC) electric field has been less common in the past as compared to the AC. In 1981, the concept of pulsed DC electric fields was introduced, together with insulated electrodes [Trans. IChemE 59 (1981) 229-237; UK Patent 217 1031A (1986)]. Since then, this has become more common in the electrocoalescence technology. Pulsed DC and AC fields are especially useful, when the aqueous phase content of the emulsion is high, to prevent short-circuiting between the pair of electrodes. Processing of oil from old wells is a good example, where the volumetric water content could vary significantly. Reported work by some workers indicates the existence of an optimum frequency, which depends on the electrode coating material, its thickness and the liquid emulsion composition. This is however, a contentious issue which has not been completely resolved. The characteristics and geometry of the electrode system (generally cylindrical or plate) influence the performance of the electrostatic coalescer, and are closely related to the type of the applied electric field and the emulsion used. There are basically two types of electrode: uninsulated electrode and insulated electrode. Combination of electrocoalescence and mechanical separation (e.g., centrifugal force) has also been introduced. Heating and the addition of chemicals have been shown to further enhance the electrocoalescence of water droplets. Other methods that can be combined with the electrical treatment are filtration, methods employing high pressure and temperature, and mixing. This review paper also looks at some of the current specific industrial applications using the electrocoalescence technology. Besides the oil and petroleum industries, this technology has potential applications in the edible oil industries such as palm oil, sunflower oil and vegetable oil processing. Most of the currently available equipment is very big and bulky, having a large inventory of emulsion. Therefore, we see the future trend for new developments to be in the direction of inventing small portable devices, incorporating features such as optimum electric fields and combined electrical and centrifugal forces to further enhance the separation of water-in-oil emulsions. Furthermore, a better understanding of the fundamentals of electrocoalescence will enable a better design of the geometry of the electrodes, of the flow field with respect to the electric fields, the type of dispersion used and the type of the applied electric field.
Crude oil and water are produced together in the production of crude oil. The reduction of water levels in the crude oil is essential to meet pipeline and export specifications. Several gravitational, thermal, mechanical, and chemical treatment methods are used to minimize the water levels associated with oil, but when the emulsion is formed between oil and water; such as water-in-oil emulsion, the process for separating one from each other is difficult. This is because of stabilization of water droplet inside of the oil. Electrostatic separation is found to be the optimum technology to overcome the interfacial active surface of the oil around water droplet. In this work, the water droplets coalescing process was observed under the application of electric field. The coalescing rates were proportionally increased with the increasing of the electric strengths. The increasing of the coalescing rates has a positive effect on the degree of separation of water from crude oil.
2020
Crude oil and water produced in the production process of crude oil. The reduction of water levels in crude oil is essential to meet pipeline and export specifications. Several gravitational, thermal, mechanical, and chemical treatment methods are used to minimize the water levels associated with oil. When the emulsion is formed between oil and water, such as water-in-oil emulsion, the process for separating one from each other is difficult. This is because of the stabilization of the water droplet inside of the oil. Electrostatic separation is found to be the optimum technology to overcome the interfacial active surface of the oil around the water droplet. In this work, the water droplets coalescing process was observed under the application of the electric field. The coalescing rates were proportionally increased with the increasing of the electric strengths.
Review of Phase Separation of Water in Oil Emulsion using Electro-Pulse Inductive Coalesce
2015
Water is invariably made with rock oil. If there is high and enough shear forces once rock oil and made water flow through the assembly path, stable emulsions could also be shaped. This state of affairs might notably be gift throughout the assembly of serious oils wherever steam is employed to scale back the viciousness of serious oil or in cases wherever submersible pumps square measure won’t to by artificial means carry the made fluids. To with efficiency style and operate serious production systems, information concerning properties that may influence the formation of emulsions and destabilization mechanisms of emulsions systems is critical. If the water isn’t far away from the rock oil it will cause quality drawback and economical losses. On the opposite aspect information concerning made water characteristics is very important to assist operators increase production, however information concerning the impacts of discharging made water in marine surroundings is very important si...
Performance Testing of an In-Line ElectroCoalescer Device with Medium and Heavy Crudes
Offshore Technology Conference, 2014
ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company (EMURC) recently completed a subsea technology development and qualification program which included performance testing of an in-line electrocoalescer device supplied by FMC Technologies (FMC). This paper will summarize the results from these performance tests. Although heavy oil has been processed on-shore successfully for many decades, processing heavy oil in deepwater, subsea, or Arctic fields is extremely challenging. One key challenge is oil-water separation, in which physical separation is constrained by the high viscosity of the crude and the narrow density difference between oil and water. Installing conventional electrostatic coalescers or dehydrators is often not economical or impractical at remote locations. As part of ExxonMobil's subsea program, several different separation technologies have been investigated and tested that could enable development of these fields. One example of such a technology is FMC's InLine ElectroCoal...
Separation and Purification Technology, 2002
For small drops dispersed in another liquid with a small density difference, gravitational separation is not effective and other mechanical methods such as centrifugation are expensive. An attractive way to separate the dispersed phase is by the use of electrical phenomena, whereby the differences in conductivity and dielectric properties between the two phases can be exploited to generate significantly high surface forces, where under favourable conditions they can enhance electrocoalescence. In this paper, the design and operation performance of two novel compact electrocoalescer-separators are described. The application of an external electric field has been shown to significantly enhance the separation of aqueous drops in a flowing viscous oil, with a low concentration of the dispersed phase. The separation efficiency increases with the electric field strength until a limit, above which drop deformation and break-up occur. Using pulsed direct current (dc) electric fields, an optimum electric field and frequency is found for the enhancement of drop-drop and drop-interface coalescence, thus producing a maximum separation efficiency for each of the two separators. The separation efficiency increases with inlet drop size up to a certain diameter. Above this diameter, the drops deform and short-circuit the electrodes easily. Short-circuiting can be minimised by optimising the electric field. Larger throughputs of the aqueous and oil phases are obtained with the electrocoalescerseparators that uses combined electrical and centrifugal effects, compared with the electrocoalescer-separator that is based on electrical and gravitational effects. The novel compact electrocoalescer-separators can be easily installed on-line to pipelines for treating water-in-oil dispersions occurring in the crude oil and petroleum industries.
A novel oil-water separator with multiple angles parallel coalescence frustums for removal of physically emulsified and free oils from wastewater was recently developed. Performance tests had been carried out to determine its removal efficiency. The primary component of the separator includes a series of inverted and upright frustums-shaped coalescence plates to form a multiple angle plate arrangement for enhance gravity separation and coalescence of oil droplets. The oil removal efficiency (E) of this separator was found to be inversely proportional to influent flowrate (Q) and directly proportional to retention time, t. The efficiency (E) of this separator can be expressed as a function of flowrate (Q), retention time (t), and influent oil concentration (C oil
Electric Field Driven Separation of Oil-water Mixtures: Model Development
Computer Aided Chemical Engineering, 2014
Electrocoalescence of aqueous droplets in oil emulsions is commonly contemplated for enhancing separation. High voltage electric fields can induce charges to drops evoking merging of adjacent droplets. The newly formed larger drops then sink faster in gravitational common settlers. Therefore, separation performance of an electrostatic coalescer is strictly linked to characteristics of the electric field and properties of the liquid-liquid system. In this work, the coalescence performance of water droplets sinking in dodecane at a pulsed DC electric field is investigated. An experimental setup allowing the simultaneous injection of similar sized drops, setting of voltage and pulsation frequency, and particle tracking at high frame rate and resolution is designed. The generated data is used to check the validity of modelling approaches for drag, dipole-dipole forces and film-thinning. Furthermore, CFD simulations are carried out using a volume of fluid method tracking the interfaces between the two phases. 1
Design and Fabrication of Sea Oil Separator
Oil is one of the precious crude and being used in many routine applications of human life. During the operating of crude oil, the transportation of crude oil requires the adoption of safety measures in port terminals. At sea accidents are further serious cause of oil pouring and cause of pollution. It is not easy to determine the amount of oil spilled into sea every year but according to estimates, it is expected to be around 4 million tons in the whole planet and 600.000 tones only for Mediterranean. Research and technological advancements in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) had been growing at a high rate over the past 10 years due to growing concern that all the ‗easy oil' has been exploited and result of high oil prices, which increased R&D appetite and investment into enhanced oil recovery (EOR). In this Project, we are designing a prototype of a device which can be used to recover this spilled oil.
Electro-hydrodynamic separation of aqueous drops from flowing viscous oil
Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2007
In a number of industrial processes, gravitation usually plays a significant role in the separation of dispersed particles or drops from another immiscible liquid. This separation, taking place in large tanks, provides low operating cost when the residence time of the liquid-liquid system is long and the density difference between the two phases is large. However, the situation becomes complicated for small liquid drops dispersed in another liquid when the density difference is very small and the carrier liquid is at high velocity. In this paper, using a novel compact electrocoalescer-separator that has been developed recently, an externally applied electric field has been shown to significantly enhance the separation of aqueous drops in a flowing viscous oil, with low concentrations of the dispersed phase. The separation efficiency increases with the electric field strength until a limit, above which, drop deformation and break-up occur. Using pulsed direct current electric fields, an optimum electric field and frequency exist for the enhancement of drop-drop and drop-interface coalescence, thus producing an optimum separation efficiency for the system. The separation efficiency increases with drop size up to a certain diameter, as larger drops have been observed to deform and short-circuit the system. Short-circuiting can be avoided by optimising the electric field. From a force balance on a single sphere, a parameter IP is defined which describes the acceleration of the sphere under an electric field. The parameter IP can predict the behaviour of the system qualitatively up to the limit where drop break-up and electrical short-circuiting occur.