The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 23, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 07, 1995
R Michael Davis, Fort Worth, TX (US);
Harold W Hadley, Olds Alberta, CA;
James M Paul, DeSoto, TX (US);
Mobil Oil Corporation, Fairfax, VA (US);
Abstract
A method for breaking an emulsion comprising oil and water into oil and water phases comprising treating the emulsion with a chemical demulsifier and passing the mixture through a hollow chamber having a uniform cross-section and subjecting the mixture to acoustic energy in the frequency range of about 0.5 to 10.0 kHz, preferably 1.25 kHz, to enhance breaking the emulsion into a water phase and oil phase. The oil phase is then separated from the water phase by gravity separation and recovered. The sonic energy is generated by a transducer attached to the mid-section of the upper or lower outer surface of the hollow chamber. For emulsions containing light oil having an API gravity greater than 20 and water, the emulsion can be broken by the use of acoustic energy in the frequency range of about 0.5 to 10.0 kHz without the addition of chemical demulsifiers.