Patent ID: 8871101

Claim:
Apparatus for separating a first liquid and a second liquid from mixtures of the first liquid and second liquid, the apparatus including: a holding tank configured to provide for the separation in the holding tank of the first liquid and the second liquid from mixtures of the first liquid and the second liquid and configured to hold a quantity of the first liquid and a quantity of the second liquid that have been separated from the mixture of the first liquid and the second liquid and to hold a quantity of the mixture of the first liquid and the second liquid; a first transfer conduit including an inlet opening configured to receive a pressurized mixture of the first liquid and the second liquid and an outlet opening in flow communication with the inlet opening and configured to discharge into the holding tank the pressurized mixture of the first liquid and second liquid received at the inlet opening of the first transfer conduit; a venturi passageway located in the first transfer conduit between the inlet opening and the outlet opening of the first transfer conduit and configured to increase the velocity of the pressurized mixture of the first liquid and the second liquid flowing through the venturi passageway as the pressurized mixture of the first liquid and the second liquid passes from the inlet opening to the outlet opening of the first transfer conduit; and a liquid conductor having an entry opening and an exit opening in fluid communication with one another, the entry opening of the liquid conductor being arranged within an upper portion of the holding tank so that at least a portion of the entry opening can be located within the quantity of the mixture of the first liquid and the second liquid held in the holding tank, and the exit opening of the liquid conductor being arranged in fluid communication with the venturi passageway, whereby the increase in the velocity of the pressurized mixture of the first liquid and the second liquid flowing through the venturi passageway can cause the mixture of the first liquid and the second liquid held in the holding tank to flow through the liquid conductor from the entry opening to the exit opening of the liquid conductor and into the venturi passageway.