Abstract: Improved method, apparatus and system for treating bilge water and other marine emulsion wastes comprising water and hydrocarbon, and possibly solids in some cases. Microwave Separation Technology (MST) is used to treat a broad class of emulsion wastes associated with, generated by, or carried at sea on, ships or other marine entities (such as drilling platforms, oil spill clean-up systems, etc.). The hydrocarbon component from a marine emulsion waste comprising water and hydrocarbon, and possibly solids in some cases, is concentrated (e.g., the emulsion's water content is reduced) so that the volume of waste material that requires off-loading or out-hauling (or both) is reduced over conventional methods of separating emulsion wastes for disposal. In view of the reductions achieved in process volumes, significant cost savings may be realized. Better compliance with environmental laws and standards may also be realized.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
July 20, 2006
Date of Patent:
November 20, 2012
Assignee:
Imperial Petroleum Recovery Corp.
Inventors:
Kenneth R. Albinson, Scott Jensen, Mark J. Porter, Kevin Maki
Abstract: Improved method, apparatus and system for treating bilge water and other marine emulsion wastes comprising water and hydrocarbon, and possibly solids in some cases. Microwave Separation Technology (MST) is used to treat a broad class of emulsion wastes associated with, generated by, or carried at sea on, ships or other marine entities (such as drilling platforms, oil spill clean-up systems, etc.). The hydrocarbon component from a marine emulsion waste comprising water and hydrocarbon, and possibly solids in some cases, is concentrated (e.g., the emulsion's water content is reduced) so that the volume of waste material that requires off-loading or out-hauling (or both) is reduced over conventional methods of separating emulsion wastes for disposal. In view of the reductions achieved in process volumes, significant cost savings may be realized. Better compliance with environmental laws and standards may also be realized.
Type:
Application
Filed:
July 20, 2006
Publication date:
January 25, 2007
Applicant:
Imperial Petroleum Recovery Corp.
Inventors:
Kenneth Albinson, Scott Jensen, Mark Porter, Kevin Maki
Abstract: An improved process for the production of biodiesel fuels and fuel additives from triglyceride-containing feed stocks is described wherein the improvement involves the use of microwave energy to reduce free fatty acid content of feed stocks, enhance the reaction rate and conversion yield of triglycerides to fatty acid esters (biodiesel product), and/or assist in the separation of at least one of the mixtures formed in the biodiesel production process.
Abstract: A method to effectively break hydrocarbon and water emulsions with radio frequency energy. A stream of hydrocarbon and water emulsion is pumped into a multimode resonant reentrant microwave cavity. Dual opposing emulsion flow chambers with a centrally supplied microwave waveguide form a double ended resonant chamber with multiple RF energy reflections to effectively treat the flowing emulsion. The emulsified feedstock enters into the bottoms of both flow chambers and exits to a centrifuge or storage for separation.