Degremont

Gilbert Saint-Dizier

Robert Louboutin

Herve Labaquere

Michel Cordier

Jean Le Fur

A filter has a vertically disposed housing, a support plate and vertical filter elements fixed at their upper ends to the support plate and supported thereby in the housing. A water outlet tube passes through the center of the support plate and exits at the base of the filter. The water outlet pipe is connected to the support plate in leak-tight manner and the portion of the filter located above the support plate is removable.

Filter having vertical filter elements

A single enclosed chamber includes a lower destabilizing area, a central filtering and coalescence area containing coalescence material, and an upper flotation and separation area. Emulsion is introduced into the lower destabilizing area and is destabilized therein. The emulsion is then passed upwardly into the central filtering and coalescence area. The dispersed phase of the emulsion is attracted to the coalescence material in the form of droplets, and as the emulsion continues to pass upwardly therethrough the droplets grow in size. During passage of the emulsion through the filtering and coalescence material, matter in suspension is filtered from the emulsion. Within the flotation and separation area is located a separation device including a lower convergent portion and an upper divergent portion. The emulsion passes through this separation device, and the coalesced dispersed phase separates from the floats on the top of the dispersion phase within the area of the upper divergent portion of the separation device. The separated dispersed and dispersion phases are separately withdrawn. The pressure difference between the upper and lower sides of the coalescence material is measured as a indication of the degree of retention of mater in suspension within the coalescence material. When this pressure difference reaches a predetermined maximum, indicative of clogging of the coalescence material, the normal separation by coalescence treatment of the emulsion is stopped, and a washing liquid, which may be the emulsion to be treated, and a gas are introduced into the destabilizing area and passed upwardly through the coalescence material, thereby removing the matter in suspension.

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Rueil Malmaison, France

Gilbert Saint-Dizier