An improved production water treatment system and method are disclosed. The
treatment apparatus includes a vertically oriented vessel with
tangentially disposed injection nozzles including one or more injection
nozzles for the introduction of production water and one or more injection
nozzles for the introduction of recycled water from the vessel and a
sparge gas. The tangential orientation of the injection nozzles creates a
cyclonic flow within the vessel for improved sparge gas bubble/hydrocarbon
contact. A hydrocarbon-rich layer migrates to the top surface of the
liquid in the vessel where it is removed about a center axis of the
vessel. The resulting hydrocarbon-lean production water has a sufficiently
low hydrocarbon content that it is eligible for more intensive processing,
such as with organophillic clay cartridges.
