Overview

A solids wash cyclone can be used to cleanse solids prior to disposal, recycling the material from the accumulator vessel as required to attain the desired level of cleanliness. A guaranteed level of oil entrainment on the solids can thus be maintained. Alderley’s solids treatment system design is such that these systems can be incorporated as necessary in the overall produced water treatment package.
 

Solids Cleaning Process

In the solids cleaning process, produced water is directed into the base of the desanding hydrocyclone vessel via a jetting nozzle to help fluidise the solids. The solids are then sucked out of the vessel via an eductor which dilutes the slurry streams and transports the solids into the sand wash vessel accumulator. The solids are then recycled through the sand wash hydrocyclone via a dedicated eductor which uses higher pressure wash water as the motive force. This recycle process continues until the oil has been stripped from the solids to the required oil-on-solids concentration for overboard discharge. The oily water reject exits the system, usually passing to the degasser vessel.

During this recycling process, solids samples can be taken to assess the cleaning efficiency and the level of oil still entrained on the sand. These samples are used to set the duration of the cleaning cycle required to ensure that the solids have been cleaned to the specification required.

 

 
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