Apparatus for treating emulsions

Claim 1

AN ELECTRIC TREATER FOR TREATING AN OIL CONTINUOUS EMULSION, SAID TREATER COMPRISING A CONTAINER, A SET OF ELECTRODES IN SAID CONTAINER CONSISTING OF ALTERNATE VERTICAL PLATE ELECTRODES, ROWS OF VERTICAL ELECTRODES OF SUBSTANTIALLY ROUND CROSS SECTION, THE PLATE ELECTRODES BEING FROM 2 TO 14 INCHES APART, THE SUBSTANTIALLYROUND ELECTRODES BEING SUBSTANTIALLY EQUIDISTANT FROM ADJACENT PLATE ELECTRODES, THE SPACING BETWEEN THE SUBSTANTIALLY ROUND ELECTRODES BEING APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE SUBSTANTIALLY ROUND ELECTRODES AND THE PLATE ELECTRODES, A SOURCE OF UNIDIRECTIONAL POTENTIAL, MEANS CONNECTING SAID SOURCE OF UNIDIRECTIONAL POTENTIAL TO SAID ELECTRODES, AN EMULSION INLET HEADER LOCATED BELOW SAID ELECTRODES, AN OIL OUTLET HEADER LOCATED ABOVE SAID ELECTRODES THROUGH WHICH THE TREATED OIL IS WITHDRAWN, AND MEANS FOR WITHDRAWING THE COALESCED DISCONTINUOUS PHASE.