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Shear Reactor + Ionizer for recovery of Turkmen Oil Lakes

Process Summary:

The system consists of a heated barge collector that pumps into a screening box to remove debris

before being sheared with ionized water and a small quantity of proprietary reactant to crack and

hydrate the sludge and thereby recover the crude oil. It is then clarified and filtered further as it passes

through a weir system of conical vats, sand falling out the bottom while recovered crude and diluents

flow out the top. Finally the liquids are spun through a series of cyclones to separate the crude oil from

the diluents and to remove any last remaining sand. The diluents are recycled, the sand cleaned for

disposal while the recovered crude oil exits to the end-product storage tanks.

The system is rugged and easily scalable wherein all parts of the process have been used commercially

to clean tank bottoms, sludge pits, drilling mud pits and fly ash ponds, etc.

System Detail:

Collection barge / heat-pad

Remote controlled, floating frame barge with heaters, fast flow pumps and insulated collection

pipe to the shoreline processing facility

Heat supplied by 150kw generator powering a plasma arc to molten salt which circulates around

the frame of the barge and around each of the pump inlets.

Ideal temperature ~140°F (60°C) to liquefy sludge while preventing volatiles from evaporating

Pump inlets have grate over them to keep out debris

If an object gets sucked against the grate, the operator will notice a decrease in flow, so reverses

the pump to flush it out. (Each pump controlled separately)

Barge is modular with 4 pumps per section. Increasing capacity requires only snapping on a new

section

While not at its limit, the longest distance already covered in the field by this system (pump +

insulated pipeline) has been 900m.

Screening Equipment

Grizzly Screen

o Traps large & heavy objects, requires picking objects out by hand

o Sits over the an insulated collection bin that is roughly the size of a railway box car

Note: Photo is not the actual screen, just representative of the equipment

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Shaker Tables inside insulated Collection Bin

o The heated sludge drips through the Grizzly onto shaker tables

o Solids bumped up the incline and over the back of the tables for removal from the sides

while liquids flow to the center of the bin into the Hopper (described below)

o Note: this system was developed and is already in use for removing drill-cuttings from

drilling mud before recycling

This photo is just representative of the equipment

Liquid Shear Reaction

A source of pressurized fluid (e.g., a firehose) is connected to a chamber which is open on one

end, and leads to an exhaust hose on the other end. The pressurized fluid is forced through

tapered nozzles (called eductor jets) mounted axially on the inside of the pump chamber,

pointed in the direction of the exhaust hose. The passage of the pressurized fluid through the

chamber and into the exhaust hose creates a suction on the open end of the chamber via the

Venturi effect, such that any fluid open to the pump chamber will be drawn into the chamber

and thence into the exhaust hose along with the fluid from the eductor jet nozzles.

As the fluid passes through a tapered jet, kinetic energy increases and pressure decreases

drawing fluid from the suction into the flow stream. In this case the energy from the diluent (be

it water, diesel or already lightened crude oil) is transferred to the sludge. Since the sludge is

effectively ripped out of the eductor valve, it is sheared or cracked.

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o The patented Turbo Shearing Eductors are purposed designed for this application where

all wear surfaces exposed to high velocity flow is coated with DURALAN1.

Injecting a small amount (~1%) of a proprietary, non-toxic and biodegradable chemical –

Synergen – to the diluent, enhances the cracking effect on the sludge.

Meanwhile, ionizing the diluent via the Ionizer frees hydrogen which then hydrates the cracked

hydrocarbon molecules of the sludge which is thereby lightened.

Force is caused by a Fast Flow Pump

o The Fast Flow pump has a unique double suction design that takes suction from both

sides of the impeller eliminates thrust load problems associated with other centrifugal

pumps. In fact the impeller has no contact with the housing.

o It is reliable, because it has no wear plates, no mechanical seals, internal bearings,

bushings, gears, or rubber impellers, i.e., none of the pump parts that create friction,

wear, and pump failure.

Shear, Weir and Turbo Separator

After being screened by the Grizzly and passing over the shaker tables sludge is introduced into a hopper

where the liquid level and chemistry is monitored and maintained. At the bottom of the hopper the

sludge is sheared while being flushed with a dilute solution ionized water and Synergen. The feed rate

into the 3 cell weir system is set to correspond to the capacity of flow through the process and the

amount of sludge and liquid in all of the cells.

1 DURLAN products and coatings are specially formulated metallic alloyed hybrid polymers (MAHPs) that offer

superior wear resistance, outstanding release characteristics, excellent tolerance for temperatures and chemical

resistance. MAHPs were first developed as spray coatings. These coatings had properties similar to polyurethane

but, unlike polyurethanes, could withstand temperatures up to 350°F and possessed significantly enhanced

mechanical and chemical properties. MAHPs are based on a reaction of an amine polymer under specific catalyzed

conditions that link particular metallic additives into the polymer chain. These components will react very rapidly

(typically in less than 30 seconds) without the aid of an additional conventional catalyst.

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The hopper is fitted with a patent-pending high shear eductor arranged below a proprietary rotary

feeder. The speed of the feeder controls the feed rate into the next cell. The patented motive Fast Flow

The pump operates at a rate of 660 gallons per minute taking a suction on cell three, pumping the liquid

slurry mixture through the eductor and discharging the sand slurry to cell two. The sand is extracted

from cell two and cell three as a clean, hydrocarbon-free material.

Over flow from cell three into cell four is 98% oil. A variable speed pump is arranged on cell four that

pumps at high velocity cyclone for a liquid/liquid separation in cell five. Here the hydrocarbon and any

remaining liquid are separated into two flow streams while residual sand drops out. A pump in cell five

uses a level control system to maintain a balanced return of the chemical and water, discharging into

cell one and two assuring a zero-discharge of contaminants to the environment.

Hopper

Cell 1 Cell 2

Cell 3

Cells 4-6