Method and system for de-oiling a feed of oil and water
A method and system for de-oiling a feed comprising oil and water. The feed has an input temperature above the boiling point of water and an input pressure sufficient to maintain the water in a liquid state. In at least one embodiment, the method comprises pumping the feed with a motive pump through a phase separator having a restriction to effect a phase separation of oil and water in the feed and produce an agitated mixture, supplying the agitated mixture from the phase separator into a pressure vessel operating at a pressure sufficient to maintain in a liquid state water that is at a temperature above the boiling point of water, removing an oil phase from the pressure vessel, and removing a water phase from the pressure vessel.
1. A method of de-oiling a feed comprising oil and water, the feed having an input temperature above the boiling point of water and an input pressure sufficient to maintain the water in a liquid state, the method comprising:
pumping the feed with a motive pump through a phase separator having a restriction to effect a phase separation of oil and water in the feed and produce an agitated mixture;
supplying the agitated mixture from the phase separator into a pressure vessel operating at a pressure sufficient to maintain in a liquid state water that is at a temperature above the boiling point of water;
removing an oil phase from the pressure vessel; and
removing a water phase from the pressure vessel.
2. The method of claim 1 in which the pressure vessel, motive pump, and phase separator are housed on a mobile platform having an input point connected to the motive pump, and further comprising the initial stages of:
transporting the mobile platform to a work site containing the feed; and
connecting the feed to the input point.
3. The method of claim 2 in which the mobile platform is free of fluid cooling devices between the input point and the pressure vessel.
4. The method of claim 2 in which the mobile platform comprises a skid or trailer.
5. The method of claim 1 in which the feed comprises slop oil.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising supplying the water phase to an amine plant for treatment of sour gas.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising supplying a gas blanket at or above 500 kPa to the pressure vessel.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
pumping the water phase through a second phase separator having a restriction to effect a phase separation of oil and water in the feed and produce a second agitated mixture;
supplying the second agitated mixture from the phase separator into a second pressure vessel operating at a pressure sufficient to maintain in a liquid state water that is at a temperature above the boiling point of water;
removing an oil phase from the second pressure vessel; and
removing a water phase from the second pressure vessel.
9. The method of claim 1 in which the phase separator comprises a mixing chamber downstream of the restriction, and the feed is pumped through the restriction and mixed with a gas in the mixing chamber.
10. The method of claim 1 further comprising removing from the pressure vessel a sample through a sample line, the sample line being connected to a cooling device.
11. The method of claim 10 in which the sample line is connected to a fume hood.
12. The method of claim 10 in which the cooling device is a heat exchanger connected to a refrigeration loop.
13. The method of claim 1 in which the pressure vessel is a flotation cell.