Centrifugation is a very efficient technique for the de-oiling of production water. The high efficiency is the result of the large acceleration inside the centrifuge in combination with the effect of the built-in plate pack, usually a conical disc stack. To study possibilities for the improvement of centrifuge performance a new plate pack type is developed.

In this paper the working principle of both the disc stack centrifuge and the centrifuge with the new plate pack is described. A design of the new plate pack, with vertical plates parallel to the centrifuge axis, is presented. Results of a computer simulation program indicate that this design will lead to an increased efficiency of the centrifuge. Use of the plate pack instead of the disc stack will cause a decrease of the oil concentration of the centrifuge effluent of about 25%. Experiments with the new plate pack confirmed this. Further improvement of the plate pack may lead to a decrease of the oil concentration of more than 40%.

Keywords:
upstream oil & gas, production monitoring, reservoir surveillance, droplet, plate pack, efficiency, concentration, centrifuge, simulation result, disc stack
Subjects:
Well & Reservoir Surveillance and Monitoring, Processing Systems and Design
Copyright 1991, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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