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US 8,945,402 B2Granted
Apparatus and method for the treatment of oil, water, cuttings, sand, soil and clay mixtures
OwnerLarry Saikinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
One embodiment of the invention disclosed is an apparatus for separating a solid material from a mixture containing oil, water, clay, sand, soil and drill cuttings. The apparatus comprise a series of processing cells and wash tanks. Hydrocyclonic devices are also used to further purify the solid mixture for disposal.
Claims6
An apparatus for separating particulate matter from a mixture containing oil, water and said particulate matter, said apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of separation cells arranged for sequential treatment of particulate matter, each separation cell including a wash tank, a settling tank, a liquids transfer tank and a hydrocyclone separator;
- the wash tank receiving a continuous flow of the mixture containing oil, water and particulate matter and having an agitator which agitates the mixture;
- the settling tank receiving continuous overflow from the wash tank, with the particulate matter which settles to the bottom of the settling tank being pumped through a line from the settling tank to the hydrocyclone separator;
- the hydrocyclone separator separating water from the particulate matter, the particulate matter being forwarded through a line to a next one of the plurality of separation cells for further processing and the water being recycled through a line back to the wash tank;
- and
- the transfer tank receiving continuous overflow from the settling tank, oil accumulating in the transfer tank being periodically pumped to oil storage as determined by a rate of oil accumulation and water being continually pumped from the transfer tank into the line leading from the hydrocyclonic separator to the wash tank of a prior one of the plurality of separation cells.
3 more elements
A method for separating particulate matter from a mixture containing oil, water and said particulate matter, said method comprising:
- providing a plurality of separation cells arranged for sequential treatment of particulate matter, each separation cell including a wash tank, a settling tank, a liquids transfer tank and a hydrocyclone separator;
- passing a continuous flow of the mixture containing oil, water and particulate matter into the wash tank, the wash tank having an agitator which agitates the mixture;
- passing a continuous overflow from the wash tank into the settling tank, with the particulate matter which settles to the bottom of the settling tank being pumped through a line from the settling tank to the hydrocyclone separator;
- using the hydrocyclone separator to separate water from the particulate matter, the particulate matter being forwarded to a next one of the plurality of separation cells for further processing and the water being recycled back to the wash tank;
- and
- passing a continuous overflow from the settling tank to the transfer tank receiving, oil accumulating in the transfer tank being periodically pumped to oil storage as determined by a rate of oil accumulation and water being continually pumped from the transfer tank into the line leading from the hydrocyclonic separator to the wash tank of a prior one of the plurality of separation cells.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.