Abstract
The process of de-oiling produced water from offshore oil fields was evaluated using hydrocyclones. An experimental design was employed and the results were used to create an empirical model that describes the reduced separation efficiency as a function of different concentrations of infeed and the pressure drop. A study was made of the procedure for preparing the oil-water emulsions used here in order to reproduce the TOG of the produced water generated in oil field. A procedure to verify the operation of these devices demonstrated that six hydrocyclones operating in tandem can attain the legally acceptable concentration of oil in the treated effluent.
Nomenclature
= | absorbance value | |
= | oil concentration in the inlet stream | |
= | oil concentration in the overflow stream | |
= | oil concentration in the analyzed sample | |
= | oil concentration in the underflow stream | |
= | droplet diameter | |
= | inlet stream pressure | |
= | oil concentration at the inlet of the hydrocyclone in coded form | |
= | concentration of emulsifiers (oil-based) | |
= | average droplet diameter or droplet diameter for which | |
= | pressure drop in coded form | |
= | HLB resulting from the emulsifier blend | |
= | total separation efficiency | |
= | reduced separation efficiency | |
= | liquid ratio | |
= | overflow mass flow rate | |
= | inlet mass flow rate | |
= | percentage of droplets with diameter smaller than |