A subsea multiphase fluid separation system has a gas separator for separating gas from a well stream containing oil. A water separation stage downstream of the gas separator has at least one dual pipe separator for separating water from the oil of the wellstream. A water treatment system for cleaning oil from water is produced by the water separation stage. On an oil outlet path, downstream of the or each dual pipe separator, there is an electrocoalescer and at least one second separator in series.

This disclosure describes methods to separate solids from liquids in a production facility. A process separates components in the process stream by using a mechanical device to separate the solids from the liquids based on a density difference. The process produces the liquids and solids, which may be further processed to create valuable animal feed products.

A microflotation system comprises a flotation tank with a dispersion water feed line in which an expansion valve arrangement is disposed. An adjusting apparatus is configured to adjust a flow rate of the expansion valve arrangement and an electronic control is connected to the adjusting apparatus. A measuring apparatus is disposed downstream from the expansion valve arrangement for detecting a size distribution of gas bubbles and the electronic control is configured to set the flow rate depending on a size distribution detected with the measuring apparatus.

Systems and methods for treating produced water and/or flowback water from fracking operations include: an oil water separator; a first filter downstream of the oil water separator; and an electrocoagulation unit downstream of the first filter. Systems and methods can be used for producing a concentrated brine for use in industrial applications and a separate stream of fresh water

A method of treating a contaminated oil comprising preparing a brine solution, adding ozone to the brine solution to produce ozonated brine solution, adding a volume of ozonated brine solution to a volume of the contaminated oil, mixing the volumes of contaminated oil and ozonated brine solution with coagulant and surfactant at a shear rate sufficiently high so as to cause formation of an emulsion of the contaminated oil and the brine solution, stopping the mixing, thereby causing the emulsion to separate into an aqueous brine liquid phase and an oil liquid phase, separating the brine liquid phase from the oil liquid phase, and separating at least one contaminant from the oil liquid phase to produce a volume of purified oil.

A method of treating contaminated materials such as oil and gas production waste sludges to recover crude oil hydrocarbons. The method includes the inversion of water-in-oil emulsions, and subsequent separation steps. These may involve the separation and removal of asphaltenes, petroleum waxes and/or solid particles from the crude oil hydrocarbons. The treatment method uses the physical phenomena of hydrodynamic cavitation and hydraulic shock, which produce different effects upon a mixture of water and the contaminated material being treated. These are deployed either as single or combined stage(s) of treatment or as a repeated series of single/combined treatment stages, with or without additional processing operations between each single/combined treatment stage. The method may be implemented with suitable plant including hydrodynamic cavitation units (103, 106) and hydraulic shock units (104, 107), followed by separators (105, 108).

Disclosed herein is a device and methods for enhancing oil separation from produced water. One such method includes mixing a multiphase fluid having at least a water phase and an oil phase with a flotation gas, according to at least one operating condition, so as to produce an enhanced multiphase fluid having bubbles of the flotation gas therein. The oil phase is then separated from the water phase using a separator. At least one property associated with the enhanced multiphase fluid is monitored. The operating condition is adjusted as a function of the monitored property so as to increase a percentage of the oil phase separated from the water phase by the separator over a percentage of the oil phase that would be separated from the water phase without adjustment of the operating condition.

A method of processing thin stillage in an ethanol refining operation is provided. The method comprises treating thin stillage upstream of a concentration or evaporation step with an aid comprising a sorbitan ester of a fatty acid, an ethoxylated sorbitan ester of a fatty acid, or a combination thereof, thereby forming treated thin stillage. The aid may include at least one of sorbitan monooleate, polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate, and polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate.

A production stream from a well formed in a subterranean formation is flowed to a gas oil separation unit. The gas oil separation unit includes a separator vessel. The production stream includes an emulsion including an oil phase and an aqueous phase. Steam is mixed with the production stream prior to the production stream entering the separator vessel. Phases of the production stream are separated by the separator vessel to produce a vapor stream, an aqueous stream, and an oil stream.

The present disclosure relates generally to systems, apparatuses, and processes for preparing a gas-infused additive that is useful within gas-floatation systems configured to separate solids and/or oils from a liquid within a suspension. The gas-infused additive can be injected into systems having a floatation consolidator to provide additional dissolved gas to the system. Advantageously, the processes and apparatuses disclosed herein are compatible with systems and processes having a single injection point for the addition of an additive or gas, without requiring substantial modification or reconfiguration of the system. The inventions described herein additionally teach that the gas-infused additive can be prepared and injected downstream of any pump present within the system, thereby protecting the pump from the damaging effects of cavitation corrosion and similar phenomena.