Separation of hydrocarbons from inorganic material

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus for separating hydrocarbons from solid particles, wherein the apparatus comprises a slurry inlet for receiving a slurry comprising water, hydrocarbons and solid particles, a water supply for rinsing water, and a slurry outlet. The apparatus further comprises a plurality of nozzles configured to provide rinsing water as droplets with sufficient speed to induce cavitation in the slurry, and separating means for extracting a liquid containing water and hydrocarbons from the slurry and a separate liquid outlet for the extracted liquid.

Description

Technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a device and system for separating hydrocarbons from solid matter. Background technique [0002] It is desirable to separate hydrocarbons from solid materials in many applications, such as cleaning up old dumps used for drilling and cutting materials, removing oil from newly drilled cutting materials to make them suitable for landfills, extracting hydrocarbons from tar sands or shale, etc. . As used herein, "solid matter" refers to rocks and / or ice blocks of any size. For example, ice may be contained in tar sands or landfills in the Arctic, or it may be necessary to extract oil from the ice after the oil spills. [0003] Biological methods use microorganisms that use long hydrocarbon chains or aromatic components as energy sources. Typically, these methods do not require grinding solid materials into smaller particles, and may generate methane and / or hydrogen. However, biological methods require heat and typically have lo...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0014] Neither WO2013172716A1 nor US2009261021A1 describe the use of hot water or steam, thus limiting energy consumption

Water consumption is also limited due to recirculation

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