ON WASTE WATER TREATING TECHNOLOGY IN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY, A THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY TO IMPROVE EFECTIVENESS OF OIL- WATER SEPARATION IN CROSS FLOW PACK (CFP) SEPARATORS

Abstract

The overwhelming evidence of environmental and health hazards caused by increasing amounts of oily waste water warrant special emphasis on the research and study of oil­ water separation process and facility in order to meet industry demand and match environmental regulations. Special constrains such as economics, size of equipment and simplicity of operation accentuate the peruse of traditional oil-water separation facility to enhance the effectiveness of oil-water separation process. The Cross Flow Pack (CFP) separator is one of the equipment which are used in treating oily water effiuents because it is a cheap facility, relies on simple technology that depends on gravity separation, occupies a small space area, does not require chemical demulsifier injection, provides low retention time and, in general, has a high effectiveness. However, CFP separators have the disadvantage of requiring closely spaced plates in order to capture the small oil droplets and to keep from stripping the coalesced oil sheet. Therefore, CFP separators are susceptible to plugging with solids and impurities which, in most cases, limit their application. However, the mission of this thesis was specified to modify the design of the standard CFP separator by introducing a new unprecedented technique in order to improve the operation of the CFP separator, resolve its well known plugging problem and to improve its effectiveness. The new unprecedented technique, which is applied for the first time in this type of application, relies on dynamic operation of the plate pack rather than the currently experienced static condition of the plate pack in the traditional CFP separators. This change in mode of operation had been achieved as a result of providing a shaking motion to the stationary plate pack of the CFP separator. This shaking motion provides an extra energy into the system which helps accelerate coalescing oil droplets, minimize the plugging tendency of the plates, and improve the effectiveness of oil-water separation process. Thus, it could be stated that the new unprecedented technique (which relies on dynamic operation of the plate pack of the CFP separator) is capable to pronounce the effectiveness of the CFP separator and improve its operation.