Apparatus for the continuous measurement of the concentration of oil

Claim 1

An apparatus for the continuous measurement of the concentration of oil in a water sample, comprising a supplying device which supplies an oil-containing water sample and a supplying device which supplies a solvent for extracting the oil in the sample, each of said water sample and solvent being supplied in a controlled and continuous amount, an extractor connected to said supplying devices having an agitator therein, which extractor receives said oil-containing water sample and solvent and serves to extract the oil component in the water sample with the solvent; a first separator connected to said extractor and which receives the mixture of oil-containing solvent and extracted water sample from the extractor and serves to quickly but incompletely separate the oil-containing solvent and extracted water sample, said first separator containing an inlet to receive the mixture of oil-containing solvent and extracted sample from the extractor, a hydrophobic filter to separate the oil-containing solvent from the extracted water sample, one outlet for removing the oil-containing solvent and another outlet for removing a mixture of the extracted water sample and oil-containing solvent which have not been separated; an infra-red analyzer containing two cells for measuring the concentration of oil, one cell being connected directly to the outlet of the first separator for removing the separated oil-containing solvent therefrom and which cell receives said oil-containing solvent and measures the concentration of oil in said oil-containing solvent and a second reference cell; a second separator connected to said first separator for receiving the sample water and the oil-containing solvent not separated in the first separator and which serves to separate the oil-containing solvent from the water sample, said second separator containing an outlet to remove and discard the separated water sample, and an outlet to remove the separated oil-containing solvent; a solvent recovery device connected to both the second separator and the first cell in the infra-red analyzer and which receives the oil-containing solvents from both the second separator and first cell, and which contains an adsorbent to remove the oil from the oil-containing solvent so as to recover the solvent with the oil removed therefrom.

Claim 2

An apparatus for the continuous measurement of the concentration of oil in a water sample, comprising a supplying device which supplies an oil-containing water sample and a supplying device which supplies a solvent for extracting the oil in the sample, each of said water sample and solvent being supplied in a controlled and continuous amount, an extractor connected to said supplying devices having an agitator therein, which extractor receives said oil-containing water sample and solvent and serves to extract the oil component in the water sample with the solvent; a first separator connected to said extractor and which receives the mixture of oil-containing solvent and extracted water sample from the extractor and serves to quickly but incompletely separate the oil-containing solvent and extracted water sample, said first separator containing an inlet to receive the mixture of oil-containing solvent and extracted sample from the extractor, a hydrophobic filter to separate the oil-containing solvent from the extracted water sample, one outlet for removing the oil-containing solvent and another outlet for removing a mixture of the extracted water sample and oil-containing solvent which have not been separated; an infra-red analyzer containing two cells for measuring the concentration of oil, one cell being connected directly to the outlet of the first separator for removing the separated oil-containing solvent therefrom and which cell receives said oil-containing solvent and measures the concentration of oil in said oil-containing solvent and a second reference cell; a second separator connected to said first separator for receiving the sample water and the oil-containing solvent not separated in the first separator and which serves to separate the oil-containing solvent from the water sample, said second separator containing an outlet to remove and discard the separated water sample, and an outlet to remove the separated oil-containing solvent; a solvent recovery device connected to both the second separator and the first cell in the infra-red analyzer and which receives the oil-containing solvents from both the second separator and first cell, and which contains an adsorbent to remove the oil from the oil-containing solvent so as to recover the solvent with the oil removed therefrom.