Technology

Conventional deoiling hydrocyclones have long been part of produced water treatment facilities. With environmental legislation around the world increasingly sharpening the allowable oil-in-water content to maximum 20 ppm or even below, the conventional designs are often not adequate to meet these stringent regulations.

Contrary to conventional hydrocyclones, the operating principle of these MixedFlow types, with multiple inlet ports positioned at the periphery of each individual cyclone liner, results in a stabilizing and coalescing effect on the water/oil flow. Most available pressure energy is converted in to a rotating motion within the cyclone. This results in the generation of maximum G-force that will be responsible for an adequate and stable oil-from-water separation, combination with minimum pressure drop.

The mechanical design of each liner, with its removable top swirl section, allows for easy dis-assembly and cleaning. New vessels are minimized in size for a given pressure drop, thereby resulting in CAPEX savings.

Existing vessels with conventional liner types can be retrofitted with HiPer Deoiler Hydrocyclones to allow for more performance at given throughput.

As part of qualification programs for subsea separation systems, a 2-stage version of this system design has been extensively tested in low pressure and high pressure multiphase flow loops under realistic oil and gas field conditions, with varying feed conditions and oil characteristics.

The range of types has been further extended with the Sulzer EcoPer 2019+ version, meeting project and performance requirements in selected applications.