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:
May. 03, 2016
Filed:
Jan. 28, 2014
Cameron International Corporation, Houston, TX (US);
Joseph Min-Hsiun Lee, Houston, TX (US);
Gary W. Sams, Spring, TX (US);
Cameron International Corporation, Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
A system and method for improving oil-and-water separation in a blended fluid stream are presented. The system includes a pressure reduction device that causes cyclonic flow in the stream. The pressure reduction device may be a wafer-based hydrocyclone or a modified hydrocyclone having an underflow outlet but no overflow outlet. The system may also include a valve that is located upstream or downstream of the pressure reduction device. Both the valve and the pressure reduction device reduce the pressure of the fluid stream while reducing the shearing of oil and water droplets within the stream. As a result, the droplets are more likely to coalesce and less likely to form emulsions, thus improving oil-and-water separation in downstream treatment processes.