Electrostatic coalescer device

An electrically energised device for coalescing a first conductive fluid, emulsified in a second fluid, comprising:

• a tube member (1), having at least one fluid inlet (2) and at least one fluid outlet (3), said tube member (1) defining a flow channel (4) for an emulsion of the first and second fluid from its inlet side to its outlet side and comprising at least one electrically insulating layer portion, said channel (4) having a generally circular or elliptic cross-section, and
• an interacting pair of a first and a second electrode (5, 6) that are arranged outside and adjacent to the at least one insulating layer portion, that separates the electrodes (5, 6) from the channel (4) and thereby from immediate contact with the emulsion, and supplied with a pulsed or alternating voltage for the purpose of subjecting the first and second fluid flowing through the flow channel to an electrostatic field,
• characterised in that the first and second electrode (5, 6) are separated with a gap and extend continuously, generally in parallel in the length direction of or helically around the flow channel (4) for promoting an optimized distribution of an electric field over the cross-section of the emulsion flow channel.