Patent ID: 7157007

Claim:
A method of separating oil and/or oily coated solids from a gaseous oily water mixture in an upright vessel having an inlet for introducing gaseous oily water mixture into an upper portion of the vessel, a water outlet in a lower portion of the vessel and an oil outlet, comprising the steps of: (a) flowing the gaseous oily water mixture from said vessel inlet tangentially into an upright tubular cyclonic inlet member positioned concentrically within an upper portion of said vessel; (b) extracting by cyclonic action, large gas bubbles without extracting small gas bubbles and discharging the inlet mixture of oily water and small gas bubbles in a substantially horizontal pattern to disperse the oily water mixture over substantially all the full cross-sectional area of said vessel; (c) flowing pressurized water through an eductor positioned within a lower portion of said vessel, the eductor having a gas inlet connected to a source of gas and an outlet through which ejected water having small gas bubbles entrained therein passes; (d) disseminating the ejected water and entrained gas bubbles in a radial substantially horizontal pattern that uniformly disperses the small gas bubbles over substantially the full cross-sectional area of said vessel, the small gas bubbles migrating upwardly to adhere to and add buoyancy to oil and/or oily coated solids; (e) skimming separated oil and/or oily coated solids in a top portion of said vessel; and (f) discharging the separated oil and/or oily coated solids through said oil outlet.