System for recovering solid waste brine from processed water utilizing a fluidized bed spray granulator

Abstract

Systems and methods of recovering solid waste (solid waste brine) from produced water in an oil sands system for the production of oil and other hydrocarbons utilizing a fluidized bed spray granulator system to provide evaporative drying.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for recovering solid waste from produced water recovered from an oil sands system, the system comprising:
 a solution tank configured to produce an enriched salt solution from an amount of produced water transferred into the solution tank;   a fluidized bed spray granulator;   a spray nozzle for spraying the enriched salt solution produced in the solution tank into a fluidized bed formed in the fluidized bed spray granulator;   a heating device for heating the fluidized bed with a hot gas;   a drying device for evaporative drying of a salt from the enriched salt solution, wherein the evaporative drying of the salt produces granules within the fluidized bed;   an extraction device for extracting granules from the fluidized bed spray granulator to produce a granulator product;   a granulator product screener for separating a portion of the granulator product into at least two fractions; and   a discharge device for removing at least a portion of at least one of the at least two fractions from the system as a solid waste brine product.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the spray nozzle is arranged so as to be submerged within the fluidized bed formed in the fluidized bed spray granulator. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein an imbedded heat exchanger is arranged so as to be submerged in the fluidized bed formed in the fluidized bed spray granulator. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least two fractions are selected from the group consisting of: an unders fraction, a middle fraction, and an overs fraction. 
     
     
         5 . A fluidized bed spray granulator system comprising:
 a liquid feed transported to a solution tank;   return unders transported to the solution tank, wherein the return unders mix with the liquid feed in the solution tank to form an enriched salt solution;   a spray nozzle;   a fluidized bed spray granulator, wherein the enriched salt solution is sprayed through the spray nozzle into the fluidized bed spray granulator to atomize the enriched salt solution, wherein granules are disposed in the fluidized bed spray granulator; and   a hot gas introduced into the fluidized bed spray granulator, wherein the introduction of the hot gas to the granules in the fluidized bed spray granulator creates a fluidized bed and a mixture of enriched salt solution and granules, wherein the fluidized bed evaporatively dries the mixture of enriched salt solution and granules to create a granulator product.   
     
     
         6 . The fluidized bed spray granulator system of  claim 5 , wherein the liquid feed transported to the solution tank is selected from the group consisting of: primary produced water, secondary produced water, lime softener sludge, and other liquid stream having a high volume of waste water and solid material such as salt. 
     
     
         7 . The fluidized bed spray granulator system of  claim 5 , wherein the hot gas used to aerate the granules in the fluidized bed spray granulator. 
     
     
         8 . The fluidized bed spray granulator system of  claim 5  further comprising multiple spray nozzles. 
     
     
         9 . The fluidized bed spray granulator system of  claim 5 , wherein a salt saturation of the liquid feed occurs at 25 wt %-27 wt % of a solids concentration at 50° C. 
     
     
         10 . The fluidized bed spray granulator system of  claim 5  further comprising a granulator product screener, wherein the granulator product screener is configured to separate the granulator product into at least two fractions, wherein a first fraction of the at least two fractions is an overs fraction, and a second fraction of the at least two fractions is an unders fraction. 
     
     
         11 . The fluidized bed spray granulator system of  claim 10 , wherein the unders fraction is divided into two streams, wherein a first unders stream is sent to a dust collector to create the returned unders, and wherein a second unders stream is returned to the fluidized bed spray granulator to create a recycled unders. 
     
     
         12 . The fluidized bed spray granulator system of  claim 10 , wherein the overs fraction is transported to a crusher, wherein the crusher crushes the overs fraction to create crushed overs, and wherein the crushed overs are returned to the fluidized bed spray granulator. 
     
     
         13 . The fluidized bed spray granulator system of  claim 5  further comprising a granulator product screener, wherein the granulator product screener is configured to separate the granulator product into at least three fractions, wherein a first fraction of the at least three fractions is an overs fraction, a second fraction of the at least three fractions is a middles fraction, and a third fraction of the at least three fractions is an unders fraction. 
     
     
         14 . The fluidized bed spray granulator system of  claim 13 , wherein the unders fraction is divided into two streams, wherein a first unders stream is sent to a dust collector to create the returned unders, and wherein a second unders stream is returned to the fluidized bed spray granulator to create a recycled unders. 
     
     
         15 . The fluidized bed spray granulator system of  claim 13 , wherein the overs fraction is transported to a crusher, wherein the crusher crushes the overs fraction to create crushed overs, and wherein the crushed overs are returned to the fluidized bed spray granulator. 
     
     
         16 . The fluidized bed spray granulator system of  claim 5 , wherein the hot gas is a combustion product of an ambient air, a fuel gas, and a recycled scrubbed exhaust gas. 
     
     
         17 . The fluidized bed spray granulator system of  claim 5  further comprising an imbedded heat exchanger submerged in the fluidized bed.