Electrostatic Coalescence in a Solvent Extraction Process (VOL-274)

A problem common to the petroleum and mining industries is the resolution into its component phases of mixtures composed of a polar liquid dispersed in an immiscible, continuous nonpolar liquid. In the petroleum industry the polar liquid is water or brine and the nonpolar liquid is crude oil. The source of the entrained aqueous phase is connate water and/or condensed steam used in secondary and tertiary recovery methods. In the mining industry dispersions of polar liquids in immiscible, nonpolar liquids are created in solvent extraction (SX) systems. In these systems the polar, dispersed liquid is leachate or stripping solution while the nonpolar, continuous liquid is the extraction solvent.