| Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(ORNL) is currently developing a Centrifugal Down-Hole Separator (CDHS) which will extend
the application of remotely operated separations equipment developed for the nuclear
industry to in-well recovery of oil with in-situ recycle of the produced water. These
units have been successfully used for surface treatment of produced water and waste water
generated during environmental clean-up operations. Performance data has shown that
centrifugal units are capable of separating stable emulsions into single phase streams
with generally less than 1% cross-phase contamination. Initial testing will be conducted with a bench-scale separator to
determine the separation efficiency of various crude oils and to provide information
necessary to scale up the separator. Information from the bench-scale unit will be used in
the design of a larger prototype, which will have a much larger height/diameter ratio, and
will incorporate some of the components necessary for down-hole operations. The prototype
separator will be operated in the lab to verify scale up parameters and separation
efficiencies, as well as to provide information necessary to design a full scale system.
The full-scale system will be fabricated, installed in the field, and operated to
demonstrate the technology.
For further information contact:
Joseph F. Walker, Jr.
Phone: (865) 241-3817
Fax: (865) 241-3817
e-mail: walkerjfjr@ornl.gov
|
The functional criteria to be used in
the development for the field scale demonstration include:  A flowrate of 2,000 to 10,000
barrels per day (~60-300 gal/min)
Installation inside an oil well
casing that is 6-3/4 inches in diameter
Operation at oil to water rations
ranging from 1:10 to 10:1
Operation with solids concentrations
ranging from 0-3% with compositions ranging from sands to clays
Maximum insoluble hydrocarbon
concentration in the produced water of 2000 mg/L with concentrations below 200 mg/L
desirable for wide spread application
Reliability the same as electric
submersible pumps (8 months mean time between failure)
Accomplishment to date include:
Set up of a bench scale system for
testing the separation and throughput for crude oils and produced water
Initiation of bench scale tests
using a 34.1 degree API gravity crude
Prediction of throughput for various
size production units based on tests with the 34.1 API crude
Development of the functional
criteria to be used in the development of the CDHS
Signed a non-disclosure agreement
with REDA pump to assist with the pumping technology necessary to operate the separator
down-hole |
