User:Milton Beychok/Sandbox: Difference between revisions

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An '''API oil-water separator''' is a device designed to separate gross amounts of oil and suspended solids from the [[wastewater]] [[effluents]] of [[Oil refinery|petroleum refineries]], [[petrochemical]] and [[chemical plant]]s, [[Natural gas processing|natural gas processing plant]]s and other industrial sources.


The name is derived from the fact that such separators are designed according to standards published by the [[American Petroleum Institute]] (API). <ref name=API421>{{cite book|author=American Petroleum Institute|American Petroleum Institute (API)|title=Management of Water Discharges: Design and Operations of Oil-Water Separators|edition=1st Edition|publisher=American Petroleum Institute|year=February 1990|id=}}</ref><ref name=Aqueous>{{cite book|author=Beychok, Milton R.|title=[[Aqueous Wastes from Petroleum and Petrochemical Plants]]|edition=1st Edition|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=1967|id=[[Library of Congress Control Number|LCCN]] 67019834}}</ref>
==Description of the design and operation==
[[Image:API Separator.png|thumb|right|385px|A typical gravimetric API separator]]
The API separator is a gravity separation device designed by using [[Stokes' Law]] to define the rise velocity of oil droplets based on their [[density]] and size. The design of the separator is based on the density difference between the oil and the wastewater because that difference is much smaller than the specific gravity difference between the suspended solids and water. Based on that design critrion: most of the suspended solids will settle to the bottom of the separator as a sediment layer, the oil will rise to top of the separator and the wastewater will be the middle layer between the water on top and the solids on the bottom.<ref name=Aqueous/>
Typically, the oil layer is skimmed off and subsequently re-processed or disposed of, and the bottom sediment layer is removed by a chain and flight scraper (or similar device) and a sludge pump. The water layer is sent to further treatment consisting usually of a [[Dissolved air flotation|dissolved air flotation (DAF)]] unit for further removal of any residual oil and then to some type of biological treatment unit for removal of undesirable dissolved chemical compounds.
[[Image:Parallel Plate Separator.png|right|thumb|350px|{{#ifexist:Template:Parallel Plate Separator.png/credit|{{Parallel Plate Separator.png/credit}}<br/>|}}A typical parallel plate separator]]
Parallel plate separators are similar to API separators but they  include tilted parallel plate assemblies (also known as parallel packs).<ref name=Aqueous/> The underside of each parallel plate  provides more surface for suspended oil droplets to coalesce into larger globules. Any sediment slides down the topside of each parallel plate. Such separators still depend upon the specific gravity between the suspended oil and the water. However, the parallel plates enhance the degree of oil-water separation. The result is that a parallel plate separator requires significantly less space than a conventional API separator to achieve the same degree of separation.
==History==
The API separator was developed about 75 years ago by the API and the Rex Chain Belt Company. The first API separator was installed in 1933 at the Atlantic Refining Company (ARCO) refinery in [[Philadelphia]]. Since that time, virtually all of the refineries  worldwide have installed API separators in their wastewater treatment plants. The majority of those refineries installed the API separators using the original design based on the specific gravity  difference between oil and water. However, many refineries now use plastic parallel plate packing to enhance the gravity separation.<ref name=API421/><ref name=Aqueous/>
==Other oil-water separation applications==
There are other applications requiring oil-water separation. For example:
* [[Oily Water Separator (Marine)|Oily water separator]]s (OWS) for separating oil from the [[Bilge|bilge water]] accumulated in ships as required by the international [[MARPOL]] Convention.<ref>[http://www.imo.org/Conventions/mainframe.asp?topic_id=258&doc_id=678 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 (and later amendments)]</ref><ref>[http://www.free-marine.com/i3oilywsep.htm Oily water separator]</ref>
* Oil and water separators are commonly used in [[electrical substation]]s. The [[transformer]]s found in substations use a large amount of oil for cooling purposes. [[Moat]]s are constructed surrounding unenclosed substations to catch any leaked oil, but these will also catch rainwater. Oil and water separators provide a quick and easy cleanup of an oil leak.<ref>{{cite book|author=Leonard L.Grigsby|title=The Electrical Power Engineering Handbook|publisher=CRC Press|year=2001|id=ISBN 0-8493-8578-4}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.water.siemens.com/en/Industries/Hydrocarbon_Processing/Solutions_Newsletter/ Photographs, drawings and design discussion of gravimetric API Separators]
*[http://www.brentw.com/water/pdfs/owda.pdf Oil/Water Separators] Diagrams and description of separators using plastic parallel plate packing.
*[http://www.etna-usa.com/zertech.pdf Oil-in-water Separation] Good  discussion and explanation of wastewater treatment processes.
==Biblio==
*{{cite book|author=American Petroleum Institute|American Petroleum Institute (API)|title=Management of Water Discharges: Design and Operations of Oil-Water Separators|edition=1st Edition|publisher=American Petroleum Institute|year=February 1990|id=}}
*{{cite book|author=Beychok, Milton R.|title=Aqueous Wastes from Petroleum and Petrochemical Plants|edition=1st Edition|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=1967|id=Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) 67019834}}

Revision as of 12:51, 13 March 2008

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