Patent ID: 7578345
Filing Date: 2009-08-25
Classification: B01D

Abstract:
1. A method of recovering heavy oil from an oil well comprising: recovering an oil-water mixture from the well; separating oil from the oil-water mixture to produce an oil product and produced water; directing the produced water to each of a plurality of interconnected evaporators in a multiple effect evaporator; directing plant steam into an initial evaporator, transferring heat from the plant steam to the produced water in the initial evaporator and evaporating at least a portion of the produced water in the initial evaporator to form a first vapor stream; directing the first vapor stream to a downstream evaporator, transferring heat from the first vapor stream to the produced water in the downstream evaporator and evaporating at least a portion of the produced water in the downstream evaporator to form a second vapor stream; condensing at least a portion of the first and second vapor streams to form a distillate; directing the distillate to a steam generator and heating the distillate in the steam generator to produce steam for injection into an injection well; and injecting the steam in the steam generator into the injection well.