ProducedĆWater Treatment TechnologyĊ
A Study of Oil/Water Separation in
GravityĆType Crossflow Pack Separators
for Qualitative Separation
F.A. Kenawy, SPE, and M.E. Kandil, SPE, Gupco Co., and M.A. Fouad and T.W. Aboarab, Cairo U.
Summary
To handle ever-increasing oily water volumes and to improve water
quality discharge, separation equipment should be developed to
meet industry demand and match environmental regulations. How-
ever, special constraints such as size, simplicity of operation, vari-
able fluids, different operating conditions, and economics warrant
special emphasis. Therefore, the study of traditional gravity-type
oil/water separation equipment is essential to enhance the separa-
tion process and maximize its effectiveness. This will become in-
creasingly important as environmental regulations become more
stringent in the future. This paper, trying to meet this target, presents
a modified design for the standard crossflow pack (CFP) separator.
The new added development to the design of the separator incorpo-
rates a mechanism whose function will be forwarded to provide a
shaking motion to its stationary plate pack. This mode of operation
has the potential to improve oil/water separation, minimize the
plugging tendency of the plates, and consequently maximize the ef-
fectiveness of the crossflow pack separator.
The obtained results revealed that the effectiveness of the cross-
flow pack separator had been increased because of the shaking of
its plate pack, and it reached its peak value at the flow Reynolds
number (based on the hydraulic diameter as the characteristic
length) equivalent to 1,830. On average, the CFP separator removed
all oil particles greater than 30 mm for streams whose oil-in-water
concentration was greater than 150 ppm.
Therefore, it can be demonstrated that providing a shaking mo-
tion to the traditional CFP separator has an appreciable potential to
improve oil/water separation. Continuing research is encouraged, to
ensure the establishment and achievment of proper scientific crite-
ria for the CFP separator.
Introduction
This paper will outline the modifications which were done to the
traditional design of CFP separator used in the treatment of waste
water separated from crude oil. Also, the paper will present the
mathematical model which was proposed to simulate its operational
mode.
It is known that the presence of oily impurities in effluent water
decreases its quality and makes it far from the limits specified by lo-
cal authorities, which prohibit disposing the effluent water without
primary separation and regulate the amount of oil that may be dis-
charged into offshore disposal piles. One of the consequences of the
activity related to this has been an increasing interest in the research
and development of oil/water separation process and equipment.
The removal of oil from the water requires identifying the type of
emulsion and determining its characteristics. An emulsion is a
stable dispersion of two mutually insoluble liquids such as oil and
water. Two types of emulsion are commonly found in surface pro-
duction facilities: water-in-oil emulsion and oil-in-water (or re-
verse) emulsion. The latter type (considered in this paper) may con-
tain various types of oil in a wide range of concentrations, such as
free, emulsified, or dissolved oil.
Copyright 1997 Society of Petroleum Engineers
Original SPE manuscript received for review 31 May 1996. Paper peer approved 20 February
1997. Paper (SPE 36056) first presented at the 1996 SPE International Conference on
Health, Safety, and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production held in New Or-
leans, 9–12 June.
112
Free oil, as identified by Taras and Blum,1 is the most common
oily impurity in a typical waste-water stream from oil processing
operation. Its droplet size is larger than 40 mm and usually rises to
the surface of the water in which it is contained. The second form
in which oil may appear is emulsified oil, which is identified as dis-
crete oil droplets less than 1 mm in size and which do not rise to the
surface regardless of how much rising time is allowed within the
separator chamber. It is classified as either mechanically or chemi-
cally emulsified oil. The third form is dissolved oil, which is no
longer present in droplet size. It is usually traced to aromatic com-
pounds, which are very soluble in water and are generally consid-
ered as oil in analysis. The scope of this paper will be confined to
demonstrating a proposal for the removal of free oil from oily waste-
water streams in a modified CFP separator.
Discussion
The American Petroleum Inst. (API) manual on disposal of refinery
wastes2 demonstrated that when an oil-in-water emulsion is
introduced into gravity-separation equipment, the oil droplets rise
through the continuous water phase with a constant velocity, vt , the
terminal rising velocity. The vt is mainly affected by oil-droplet di-
ameter in a manner such that a relatively small increase in diameter,
caused by coalescence, will significantly increase the rising rate.
Arnold3,4 declared that optimum coalescence could be achieved
when there is sufficient energy in the system to allow oil droplets to
be brought together. This energy is usually delivered to the system
as shear. However, it must be recognized that a maximum shear rate
exists at which the oil droplets will be comminuted. On the other
hand, insufficient energy makes the frequency of droplet collision
(which is necessary to initiate coalescence) low and coalescence
occurs very slowly. One relationship for the maximum particle size
that can exist at equilibrium was proposed by Karabelas5, who ex-
plained that the greater the pressure drop in a given period of time,
the smaller the maximum oil-droplet diameter will be. That is, large
pressure drops that occur through small distances result in smaller-
diameter droplets.
McCarthy6 demonstrated that plate-coalescing devices assure
obtaining a maximum oil-droplet diameter by providing a solid sur-
face that can be contacted and wet by small oil droplets whose accu-
mulation creates a thick oil film that becomes a source of large
drops. Other forces, such as gravity or fluid flow, tend to cause the
excess oil from the film to migrate. When the cohesiveness of the
oil film is overcome by these mechanical forces, enlarged drops of
oil break loose from the solid surface. These large drops separate
from the water phase much faster than the original small droplets in
accordance with Stokes’s law. These devices can match the per-
formance of a skimmer in less space or offer improved performance
in the same space. Also, Bradley7 declared that this equipment
proved to have minimal operational problems and achieved excel-
lent performance during the last 20 years.
There has been special emphasis on this type of coalescers, whose
first use was an effort to improve performance of existing horizon-
tal-rectangular API separators by installing a series of parallel flat
plates at 45° angle to the direction of water flow. These devices were
commonly called parallel-plate interceptors. Since then, various im-
provements to the basic parallel-plate interceptor (PPI) have been
devised, including corrugated-plate interceptors (CPI) and CFP
separators. All of these devices depend on gravity separation to al-
SPE Production & Facilities, May 1997
Fig. 1—CFP separator, general layout: (1) primary distribution
compartment, (2) flow-distribution baffles, (3) crossflow plate
pack, (4) movable skimpipe, (5) overflow weir, (6) water-dis-
charge compartment, (7) sediment-pipe connection.
low the oil droplets to rise to a plate surface where coalescence and
capture occur. Unfortunately, both the PPI and CPI separators have
the disadvantage of requiring laminar flow and closely spaced
plates to capture the small oil droplets. They are susceptible to plug-
ging with solids especially when sand or sediment production is an-
ticipated. In an attempt to overcome these drawbacks, manufactur-
ers devised the crossflow pack separators whose plates are put on a
steeper angle in the frame to facilitate sediment removal and to en-
able the plate pack to be more conveniently packaged in a pressure
vessel. However, they still suffer from plugging problems.
Modified CFP Separator. It is clear from the previous review that
using the crossflow pack separator in the oil field is necessary for
bulk oil removal from the continuous water streams. The authors of
this paper took the responsibility of improving the operation of this
type of equipment and to present proposals to modify its effective-
ness. The research, which had been supported by experimental work
and field tests, revealed that shaking the plate pack of the separator
creates an oscillatory flow that introduces turbulence into the sys-
tem and has the potential to promote coalescence. The turbulence
should be controlled within specific limits to avoid shearing oil
droplets. The research also considered the impact of influent stream
characteristics on the effectiveness of the CFP separator.
The operation of the modified CFP separator follows the same
principles applied in the standard CFP separator, which relies on
gravity to separate oil droplets from the water continuous phase.
This process is affected by many parameters, such as oil-droplet size
distribution, difference in density between oil droplets and water
phase, and the temperature of the stream. That is, the larger and less
dense the oil droplet, the more rapidly it will rise through water of
a given density. For laminar flow, this rising velocity can be com-
puted from Stokes’s law, as in
2.853 10 *8 ǒò w * ò oǓ d 2m
vt + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1)
mc
It is clear from Eq. 1 that the droplet diameter (which is squared
in the equation) is the most important parameter affecting the rate
of oil rise. Therefore, a relatively small increase in diameter (caused
by coalescence) will significantly increase the rising rate. Increased
droplet size could be achieved by providing sufficient energy into
the system to allow oil droplets to be brought together. The energy
input to the system should be optimized to maintain an effective rate
of droplet collision and coalescence. The corrugation of the plates
of the crossflow pack separators provide a suitable environment for
better coalescence. However, it requires the plates to be closely
spaced to reduce the distance traveled by oil globules and as a conse-
quence increases its rising velocity to achieve better separation. In
this case, the plates will be susceptible to frequent plugging with sol-
ids or biological growth.
The operation of a typical CFP separator is outlined in Fig. 1. The
oily water flows into the primary distribution compartment (1). Sub-
sequently, it is distributed over the fill/flow area by flow-distribu-
SPE Production & Facilities, May 1997
Fig. 2—Modified CFP separator, side view: (1) electric-motor-
gear box assembly, (2) speed-reducing station, (3) crossflow
plate pack, (4) camshaft, (a) primary distribution compartment,
(b) oil-collection basin, (c) water-discharge compartment.
Fig. 3—Modified CFP separator, plot plan: (1) electric-motor-
gear box assembly, (2) speed-reducing station, (3) crossflow
plate pack, (4) camshaft, (a) primary distribution compartment,
(b) oil-collection basin, (c) water-discharge compartment.
tion baffles (2), which induce the incoming water to flow evenly and
uniformly to the entrance of the crossflow plate packs (3). In the
plate packs, the oil droplets are intercepted and coalesced into larger
droplets. They leave the pack rapidly by moving upwards in the tops
of the corrugations to the surface of the tank. The separated oil
constitutes a comparatively dry floating layer which is removed
through a movable skimpipe (4), from which it flows into the oil
compartment. In the inlet compartment, a cylindrical weir is
installed to remove the bulk oil, in particular when high oil is ex-
pected. Clean water flows over adjustable overflow weir (5) into
water discharge compartment (6). Settlable matter is then dis-
charged by the sediment pipe connection (7).
The sizing of the crossflow pack separator, as determined by Ar-
nold,3,4 is governed by the equation
300 Q w h m w
HWL + , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2)
cos qǒò w * ò oǓ d 2m
where H, W, and L are the height, width, and length, respectively,
of the CFP separator. A restriction is placed on the Reynolds number
(based on the hydraulic diameter as the characteristic length) for the
water flow to assure that turbulence does not affect the oil sheet on
the coalescing plate.
Experimental Work. To increase the coalescence rate, efforts have
been made to provide an additional increase to the energy input into
the system by creating an oscillatory flow. This type of flow will
create turbulence just enough to promote coalescence but not so
great as to avoid shearing oil droplets. This action could be achieved
by applying the shaking-induced flow technique. This shaking mo-
tion had been provided to the system by a mechanism (Figs. 2 and
3) comprised of a skid-mounted electric motor-gearbox assembly
tied to a camshaft by a speed-reducing system (set of pulleys and
belts). In this case, the rotary motion of the camshaft is converted
into a vertical motion of the plate pack with 0.4-in. displacement.
113
Fig. 4—Impact of the flow Reynolds number on CFP separator
effectiveness, different oil-in-water concentration (ppm).
With this assembly, it was possible to have different oscillatory
flows with Reynolds numbers ranging from 1,500 up to 4,500. It is
worthy to mention that the Reynolds number of the original laminar
flow through the standard CFP separator was 930. Fortunately, this
shaking motion gave an additional benefit, accelerating the removal
of sediments and solids from the plate pack.
It was possible to avoid the problem of the traditional CFP separa-
tor: its susceptibility to plugging with solids. The flow regime was
predicted by a mathematical model devised for this purpose. The
major equations used in this model were originally demonstrated by
Blevins8 as
B
ǒǓ
S + A V p2 , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3)
where
A+ ǒòWm ǓǒWw
C b
2
Ǔ cosǒw t ) aǓ
L
2
y
s
and
ȡ w ȣ
B + ȥƪ1 * ǒw Ǔ ƫ ) ƪ2zǒw ǓƫȦ
0.5
2
2 This trend is attributed to the nature of coalescence, which requires
w s s enough retention time to increase the degree of coalescence. Also,
.
Ȣ y
Ȥ y
Solving this equation gives the numerical value of the perturbation
velocity vp, which is used to determine the velocity of the oscillatory
flow v , which is expressed as
v + v f ) v p sinǒ w y t Ǔ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (4)
The flow Reynolds number (based on the hydraulic diameter as the
characteristic length) is calculated based on this velocity. The frac-
tional removal (FR ) of the CFP separator and its relative effective-
ness (RE ) are then calculated as
F R + (C i * C o)ńC i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (5)
and
R E + 1 * ƪǒF R base * F R caseǓńF R baseƫ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (6)
where FRbase and FRcase refer to the fractional removal of the CFP
separator considering the base operating condition and the case-
study condition respectively.
Analysis of Results
The impact of shaking on the operation of the CFP separator is shown
in Fig. 4. Three oily water effluents were introduced to the CFP sepa-
rator. Each one had its own characteristics such as oil-in-water con-
centration (40, 300, and 3,000 ppm), oil-droplet-size distribution, vis-
cosity, density, etc. The data revealed that the relative effectiveness
of the separator is directly proportional with the flow Reynolds num-
ber until it reaches its peak value, at which the Reynolds number
114
Fig. 5—Impact of shaking on the operation of the CFP separator.
reaches 1,830. Unfortunately, beyond this number, the operation of
the crossflow pack separator is disrupted and its effectiveness is ex-
tremely reduced. This trend is attributed to the amount of energy add-
ed to the system because of the intense shaking.
For small amount of energy, the intensity of turbulence is low as
is the perturbation velocity. Thus a pronounced coalescence is
created and leads to the formation of few large oil drops because of
the collision of oil droplets in periodic accelerated/decelerated flow
in the corrugation. These large drops separate from the water phase
much faster than the original small droplets in accordance with
Stokes’s law. Also, shaking the plate pack facilitates a continuous
removal of sediments from the plates. This course of action im-
proves the operation of the crossflow pack separator. However, in-
tensive shaking increases the intensity of turbulence and perturba-
tion velocities, i.e. high Reynolds number flow regimes. This high
turbulence causes violent mixing and shearing and the agitation en-
ergy overcomes the natural tendency of the fluid to minimize its in-
terfacial contacting surface. In general, this type of oil (mechanical-
ly emulsified oil) cannot separated by traditional methods.
The impact of retention time on the operation of the CFP separator
is shown in Fig. 5. It is clear that the effectiveness of the CFP separa-
tor is directly proportional to retention time inside the separator.
it is clear that the effectiveness of the CFP separator while shaking
its plate pack is much higher than its effectiveness with a stationary
plate pack.
Conclusions
1. The effectiveness of the CFP separator can be improved by pro-
viding a shaking motion to the plate pack of the separator to promote
coalescence, help sediment removal, and increase volumetric uti-
lization efficiency of the CFP separator.
2. On average, the modified CFP separator has the potential to re-
cover all oil droplets greater than about 30 mm when the inlet oil-in-
water concentration is greater than 150 ppm.
Recommendation
The present work recommends modifying the operation of the tradi-
tional CFP separator by providing a shaking motion to the plate. It
is necessary to continue the research and scientific work to demon-
strate the optimum operational parameters affecting the perfor-
mance of the coalescing devices. Future research should focus on
influent flow regime, hydraulic characteristics, spacing between
plates, incline angle of plates, type of plates, and oscillation intensi-
ty. The engineering work should be supplemented with laboratory
models to achieve proper scientific criteria.
Nomenclature
A+ parameter in Blevins’ equation
B+ parameter in Blevins’ equation
Ci + oil-in-water concentration in the influent stream, ppm
CL + lift coefficient
SPE Production & Facilities, May 1997
 Co + oil-in-water concentration in the outlet stream, ppm F.A. Kenawy is Chairman and Managing Director of Gupco in
dm + diameter of oil droplet, mm Cairo. He earned a BS degree in petroleum engineering from
h+ spacing between plates, in. Cairo U. in 1962. He earned a PhD degree in petroleum engiĆ
H+ height of crossflow pack separator, ft neering from Moscow Petroleum Inst. in 1970. Kenawy then beĆ
L+ length of crossflow pack separator, ft came an assistant petroleum engineering professor at AlĆAzhar
m+ mass of structure per length, lbm/ft U. in Cairo, returning to the Moscow Petroleum Inst. from 1973 to
Qw + water flow rate across the separator, bbl/day 1976 for postdoctoral studies. Kenawy also is a member of the
S+ displacement normal to free stream, in. Egyptian Union of Engineering Professionals and a director for
t+ time, sec the Egyptian Drilling Co., Egyptian Petroleum Research Inst.,
v+ flow regime velocity, ft/s and Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. Kenawy has held many
vf + free stream velocity, ft/s SPE Egyptian Section offices, including 1979ć81 membership
vp + perturbation velocity, ft/s chairman, 1981-83 and 1989ć91 chairman, and 1984 and 1993
vt + terminal rising velocity, ft/s director. He received the Middle East Region Service Award in
W+ width of crossflow pack separator, ft 1992. Kenawy also served on the 1992 Forum Series in the Middle
a+ phase angle East and the 1987-93 Middle East Oil Show program commitĆ
b+ influence coefficient tees. M.E. Kandil is Supervisor of the Operations Projects EngiĆ
q+ angle of plate with horizontal axis
neering Dept. of Gupco in Cairo. He graduated from Cairo U.
mc + viscosity, lbf-s/ft2
1980 and obtained his MSc degree in 1988 from Cairo U. He is
òo+ density, lbm/ft3
currently finalizing his PhD degree from Cairo U. He authored
òw+ density, lbm/ft3
and coauthored four scientific papers, which were published
z+ damping factor
and presented in many conferences. M.A. Fouad is Professor of
w+ natural frequency, rad/sec
ws + vortex shedding frequency, rad/sec mechanical engineering in the Mechanical Power Dept. of
wy + structure natural frequency, rad/sec Cairo U. He graduated from Cairo U. 1972 and obtained his MSc
(1974) and PhD (1978) degrees from Cairo U. and Salford U. in
UK. He worked as a Senior FuIbright Scholar during 1986ć87 at
References
the U. of California at Berkeley, and as a visiting professor during
1. Taras, M.J. and Blum, K.A.: “Determination of Emulsifying oil in Indus-
1987Ć89 at Carleton U., Canada. Fouad is a licensed specialized
trial Wastewater,” JWPFA (1968) 40.
2. API Division of Refining Manual on Disposal of Refinery Wastes Ameri- consultant engineer. T.W. Aboarab is Professor of mechanical
can Petroleum Institute (1969) First Edition. engineering in the Mechanical Power Dept. of Cairo U. He graĆ
3. Arnold, K.E.: “Design Concepts for Offshore Produced Water Treating duated from Cairo U. in 1969 and obtained his MSc (1972) and
and Disposal Systems,” JPT (February 1983) 276. PhD (1978) degrees from Cairo U. and Stuttgart U. in Germany,
4. Arnold, K.E.: “Designing Oil & Gas Production Systems, How to Size and respectively. He authored and coauthored over 95 scientific
Select Produced Water Treating Equipment,” World Oil (March 1985) 69. papers published in many journals, conferences, and sympoĆ
5. Karabelas, A.J.: “Droplet Size Spectra Generated in Turbulent Pipe Flow siums. Aboarab had been awarded the Country State Prize and
of Dilute Liquid/Liquid Dispersions,” Aichej (1978) 24, 170.
State Medal, and also was awarded several prizes from universiĆ
6. McCarthy, P.M.: “Separation of Oil, Floatable Chemical and Sludge by
Corrugated Plate Separators,” paper for Petro-Tech for the Pacific Coast ties in the Arab Legion.
Oil Show, Los Angeles, Convention Center, Los Angeles, California
(9–12 November 1982).
7. Bradley, B.W.: “Coalescers Offer Unique Design Features,” Oil & Gas J.
(18 November 1985) 136.
8. Blevins, R.D.: Flaw Induced Vibration, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company
(1977) New York.

SI Metric Conversion Factors Kenawy Kandil Fouad Aboarab

bbl 1.589 873 E*01 +m3
ft 3.048* E*01 +m
in. 2.54* E)00 +cm
lbf-s/ft2 4.788 026 E)01 +Pa@s
lbm/ft 1.488 164 E)00 +kg/m
lbm/ft3 1.601 846 E)01 +kg/m3
mm 1.0* E*06 +m
*Conversion factor is exact. SPEPF

SPE Production & Facilities, May 1997 115