INVESTIGATION OF THE USE OF A VORTEX FLOW TO SEPARATE OIL FROM AN OIL-WATER MIXTURE

Abstract

ABSTRACT The use of a continuous-flow vortex separator as a component of an oil spill clean-up system was investigated. Tangential injection of the oil-water mixture into the vortex tube produces buoyant forces which accelerate the lighter oil to the vortex axis. The cleansed water and the core containing the oil are exhausted through exit ports in opposite end walls of the vortex tube. The cleansed water would be returned to the sea and the core flow containing the oil would be stored. Tests of laboratory-scale model vortex separators were made using oil-water mixtures having inlet oil-to-total-flow ratios between 0.002 and 0.3 and for a variety of geometric and flow conditions. The tests were made using four types of oil (napthene-base crude, paraffin-base crude, diesel and No. 6 heating fuel) having viscosities between 3 and 4250 cps (measured at 75 F) and specific gravities between 0.83 and 0.97. The results showed that separator performance may be optimized by proper control of the oil exhaust flow. Under optimum conditions, approximately 90 percent of the injected oil was separated and captured, and the captured flow contained approximately 90 percent oil. Studies were also made to determine the sizes and weights of components for full-scale vortex separators, including the necessary pumps and prime movers.