Patent ID: 8246843

Claim:
A process for the separation of an oil/water mixture into an oil rich phase and a water rich phase using an inline separation device, the process comprising: providing an oil/water supply pipe, providing an elongated, tubular separation device comprising successively an inlet, a vortex generating chamber, a central separation chamber and an outlet and providing an oil rich phase discharge pipe and a water rich phase discharge pipe, the inlet of the separation device fluidly connected with the oil/water supply pipe and the vortex generating chamber, the central separation chamber fluidly connected with the vortex generating chamber and the outlet of the separation device, the outlet of the separation device further fluidly connected with the oil rich phase discharge pipe and the water rich phase discharge pipe, the vortex generating chamber provided with vortex generating means, the process further comprising the provision of a first oil/water mixture having an axial velocity via the oil/water supply pipe, introducing the first oil/water mixture from the oil/water supply pipe into the vortex generating chamber, generating a rotating oil/water mixture having a tangential velocity which is passed on to the central separation chamber, separating oil and water in the separation chamber into an oil rich phase and a water rich phase and discharging the oil rich phase via the oil rich phase discharge outlet and the water rich phase via the water rich phase discharge outlet, the process further also comprising a) the provision of an additional tangential or axial inlet into the vortex generating chamber or the central separation chamber and introducing an amount of additional oil/water mixture tangentially and/or axially into the vortex generating chamber or the central separation chamber, and b) optionally adjusting the vortex generating means to control the rotation of the vortex.