Rotary Cyclone Will Improve Oily Water Treatment and Reduce Space Requirement/Weight On Offshore Platforms

Abstract

ABSTRACT A rotary hydrocyclone was developed for the treatment of the produced oily water on offshore platforms. The main advantages of this type of equipment consist in : – a few second residence time resulting in a dramatic reduction in weight and volume. – higher efficiency when comparing with conventional settling tanks or static cyclones. – insensitivity to the platform motion, – large flexibility in flow rate and in oil concentration in the treated water, – low pressure drop requirement, – easily adaptable to changing field operating conditions, – modular conception facilitating the offshore installation, – reduced maintenance and power consumption resulting in a low operating cost. This paper outlines the results of laboratory work conducted initially on a static hydrocyclone and on a rotary cyclone scale model, with the reasons for the differences in performance of the both type of equipment. A field test of a 2 × 25 m3/h industrial rotary cyclone skid is presented and the field performance analysed Finally main features of the industrial units are presented and a comparison with a conventional treatment is made.