Patent ID: 7678286

Claim:
A system for separating a water/hydrocarbons emulsion fluid into a recovered oil fluid and a purified water fluid, the water/hydrocarbons emulsion fluid comprising a continuous phase and a dispersed phase, the purified water fluid being essentially constituted of the continuous phase, the system comprising: a vessel at an inlet of which the water/hydrocarbons emulsion fluid may flow; one or more coalescing elements made of Reusable Polymer Absorbent material, each coalescing element allowing to coalesce at least a portion of the dispersed phase from small droplets into large drops, said large drops being further detached from the coalescing element upon a flow of the emulsion fluid; one or more separating and guiding means made of an oleophilic material, each separating and guiding means being located a distance from an associated coalescing element and being disposed at an output of the associated coalescing element to guide said detached large drops for further recovery and having a structure that is adapted to allow the continuous phase to flow through the separating and guiding means, wherein each separating and guiding means comprises: a plurality of plates to intercept said detached large drops; wherein: the plurality of plates are made of the oleophilic material so that the intercepted large drops adhere to the plates; and the plurality of plates have a diagonal orientation adapted for guiding the adhered large drops upward.