Petro-Canada

Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd.

Gulf Canada Resources Limited

Murphy Oil Company Ltd.

Mocal Energy Limited

Imperial Oil Resources

Aec Oil Sands, L.p.

Athabasca Oil Sands Investments, Inc.

Canadian Oil Sands Investments, Inc.

Aec Oil Sands Limited Partnership

R Douglas Kennett

Terence E Base

Edward W Chan

Douglas A Emberley

Mixing means, for producing a flow mixture of oil and steam, is combined with an atomizing nozzle to provide a nozzle assembly which produces a jet of very fine oil droplets. The nozzle assembly is used in conjunction with a reactor, such as a fluidized bed coker. The mixing means comprises a pipe, external of the reactor, having separate, spaced apart inlets for oil and steam. The steam inlet is upstream of the oil inlet. A reducing diameter nozzle is positioned in the pipe bore between the inlets, for accelerating the steam. The steam contacts the oil and turbulently moves down the pipe bore to produce what is known as a 'bubbly flow' mixture. The mixture is fed to the nozzle, which is internal of the reactor. The nozzle has: an inlet; a first contraction section of reducing diameter for accelerating the flow, preferably to supersonic velocity, whereby the droplets are reduced in size; a diffuser section of expanding diameter wherein the mixture decelerates and a shock wave may be induced; a second contraction section operative to accelerate the mixture more than the first contraction section; and an orifice outlet for producing a jet or spray. The nozzle assembly has been shown to reduce droplet size from about 12,000 .mu.m to about 300 .mu.m.

Nozzle for atomizing liquid in two phase flow

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Fort McMurray, Canada

R Douglas Kennett