Fluid treatment apparatus
AssigneeVWS Westgarth Limited
InventorsNeville Lange, Kenneth Wayne Severing
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fluid treatment apparatus comprises a fluid vessel defining first and second fluid chambers. A fluid inlet is provided for delivering a fluid to be treated into the first fluid chamber. One or more nozzle assemblies are provided for fluid communication between the first and second fluid chambers, wherein said nozzle assemblies are adapted to facilitate mixing of a gas with said fluid. The second fluid chamber is adapted to accommodate a fluid treatment process therein, including a floatation treatment. One specific use of the fluid treatment apparatus includes separating oil from water, particularly water produced from a subterranean formation.
Claims29
A fluid treatment apparatus comprising:
- a fluid vessel;
- a partition secured to a side wall of the vessel to divide the vessel into first and second fluid chambers enclosed within the fluid vessel, the first fluid chamber being a header fluid chamber and the second fluid chamber being a flotation separation treatment fluid chamber;
- a fluid inlet for delivering a fluid to be treated comprising a liquid into the first fluid chamber into engagement with said partition within the first fluid chamber, said fluid inlet having a smaller cross-section than the first fluid chamber;
- and
- a plurality of nozzles for providing fluid communication of said fluid from the first fluid chamber to the second fluid chamber, wherein said nozzles are adapted to introduce gas into said fluid.
A method of treating a fluid, said method comprising the steps of:
- discharging a fluid to be treated from a fluid inlet into a first fluid chamber, said fluid to be treated comprising a liquid and said fluid inlet having a cross-section that is smaller than said first fluid chamber;
- building up a head of fluid in said first fluid chamber;
- flowing the fluid through a plurality of nozzles adapted to introduce gas to said fluid;
- and
- discharging the fluid from the plurality of nozzles into a second fluid chamber to be further treated therein by flotation separation treatment, said first and second fluid chambers being separated by a partition secured to a side wall of said vessel for dividing said vessel into said first and second fluid chambers enclosed within said vessel, fluid being discharged into engagement with said partition within said first chamber.
A nozzle arrangement for distributing a fluid to be treated between a first fluid chamber and a second fluid chamber, said nozzle arrangement comprising:
- a first nozzle assembly comprising a first fluid conduit extending between the first and second fluid chambers, wherein the first fluid conduit comprises a first fluid port providing communication for said fluid with the first fluid chamber;
- and
- a second nozzle assembly comprising a second fluid conduit extending between the first and second fluid chambers, wherein the second fluid conduit comprises a second fluid port providing communication for said fluid with the first fluid chamber;
- wherein the first and second fluid ports are provided at different heights relative to a base of the first fluid chamber to facilitate operation of the first and second nozzle assemblies with different head ranges of fluid within said first fluid chamber to permit the nozzle arrangement to be operational only when a predefined head of fluid to be treated is present in the first fluid chamber.
A fluid treatment apparatus comprising:
- a fluid vessel;
- first and second fluid chambers defined within the fluid vessel;
- a fluid inlet for delivering a fluid to be treated into the first fluid chamber, said fluid to be treated comprising a liquid;
- at least one nozzle assembly for providing fluid communication of said fluid between the first and second fluid chambers, said nozzle assembly being adapted to facilitate mixing of a gas with said fluid, wherein said nozzle assembly comprises a discharge pipe defining a fluid outlet opening into the second fluid chamber and the discharge pipe is arranged to establish rotational flow within the second chamber;
- and
- a fluid passage between the first and second chambers to permit fluid communication of a gas from the second fluid chamber into the first fluid chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.