Oil-water separator

Claim 1

An oil-water separator comprising: a separator tank; said tank having an inlet end with an inlet end wall and an outlet end with an outlet end wall; barrier means depending vertically downwardly from the top of said tank relatively close to said inlet end wall and relatively remote from said outlet end wall; said barrier means extending across the upper portion of said tank relatively close to said inlet end wall to define a relatively small and relatively turbulent inlet zone between said barrier means and said inlet end wall and a relatively large and relatively quiescent oil-water separator zone in said tank between said barrier means and said outlet end wall; inlet nozzle means in said inlet zone for supplying an oil-water feed mixture in a generally vertical downwardly direction in said inlet zone; baffle means having a feed flow impact surface in said inlet zone located below said inlet nozzle means so that the downwardly flowing oil-water feed mixture impacts upon said impacts surface; said feed flow impact surface being separated from both said inlet nozzle means and said inlet wall and said feed flow impact surface inclined upwardly at an angle of about 35 to 55 degrees with respect to the vertical so that said surface faces towards both said inlet nozzle means and said inlet end wall so that the downwardly flowing oil-water feed mixture from said inlet nozzle means impacts upon and is diffused and deflected by said impact surface so that said mixture flows in an inclined path downwardly to said inlet end wall; passageway means between said flow impact surface and the bottom of said tank to provide flow access for said diffused feed mixture from said inlet end wall to said separator zone; a plurality of vertically spaced apart coalescer plates at an intermediate region in said separator zone between said barrier means and said outlet end wal to assist in oil-water separation with said coalescer plates inclined upwardly in the direction towards said outlet end wall at an angle between about 15 and 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal; by-pass prevention barrier means insalled around said plates to channel flow in said tank through said coalescer plates; water outlet means near said outlet end wall for removing clarified water from said separtor zone; and oil outlet means near said outlet end wall for removing separated oil from said separator zone.

Claim 18

A method for separting oil and water in an oil-water admixture in a separator tank having an inlet end and an inlet end wall and an outlet end and an outlet end wall with a baffle having a feed flow impact surface near said inlet end wall inclined at an angle between about 35 to 55 degrees with respect to the vertical so that said impact surface faces upwardly and towards said inlet end wall, said method comprising passing a feed stream containing said admixture vertically downwardly onto said impact surface so that said impact surface diffuses said stream laterally and deflects said stream with relative turbulence in a downwardly inclined path to said inlet end wall, said stream then flowing from said inlet end wall towards said outlet end wall with relative quiescence passing through coalescer plates having by-pass prevention barrier means with asid plates inclined at an angle between 15 and 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal while oil and water separate from each other, and removing separate water and oil streams from locations near said outlet end wall.

Claim 19

A method for separting oil and water in an oil-water admixture in a separator tank having an inlet end and an inlet end wall and an outlet end and an outlet end wall with a baffle having a feed flow impact surface near said inlet end wall inclined at an angle between about 35 to 55 degrees with respect to the vertical so that said impact surface faces upwardly and towards said inlet end wall, said method comprising passing a feed stream containing said admixture vertically downwardly onto said impact surface so that said impact surface diffuses said stream laterally and deflects said stream with relative turbulence in a downwardly inclined path to said inlet end wall, said stream then flowing from said inlet end wall towards said outlet end wall with relative quiescence passing through coalescer plates having by-pass prevention barrier means with asid plates inclined at an angle between 15 and 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal while oil and water separate from each other, and removing separate water and oil streams from locations near said outlet end wall.