Patent ID: 8828237

Claim:
A method of recovering oil from an oil well and removing oil from a resulting oil-water mixture, the method comprising: removing an oil-water mixture from an oil well; separating oil from the oil-water mixture to produce produced water; wherein separating the oil from the oil-water mixture includes directing the oil-water mixture into a filtering device having filtering media contained therein and adsorbing oil onto the media and producing a produced water stream that is relatively free of oil; at selected times scrubbing the media within the filtering device and removing oil from the media, the method of scrubbing the media including: directing a motive liquid into an eductor associated with the filtering device; fluidizing the media in the filtering device and inducing the fluidized media into the eductor; the eductor mixing the media with the motive liquid and driving the media through a scrubbing section in the eductor which results in oil being removed from the media and produces a slurry that contains the media and removed oil; separating the media from at least a portion of the slurry and discharging the portion of the slurry and the removed oil contained in the portion of the slurry discharged; continuing to direct motive liquid into the eductor and inducing the fluidized media into the eductor and into contact with the scrubbing section of the eductor; and continuing to discharge a portion of the slurry containing oil removed from the media.