Fremgangsmåde og apparat til adskillelse af væsker

PCT No. PCT/GB92/00528 Sec. 371 Date Nov. 16, 1993 Sec. 102(e) Date Nov. 16, 1993 PCT Filed Mar. 23, 1992 PCT Pub. No. WO92/16278 PCT Pub. Date Oct. 1, 1992.A method for the separation of a less dense liquid from a body of a more dense liquid on which the less dense liquid is floating, especially for the separation of oil floating on water, which includes passing a column of liquid at high velocity substantially vertically from within the body of liquid through the surface thereof thereby to entrain the less dense liquid and carry it away from the surface, and collecting the mixture of less dense liquid and other liquid(s) thereby produced. The apparatus for use in the invention includes a mechanism for generating a high velocity column of carrier liquid, a mechanism for directing the column upwardly through the body of liquid and the floating layer of less dense liquid to entrain the less dense liquid in a surface layer of the column and a device for directing the carrier liquid and entrained less dense liquid to a collector device. The directing device may comprise, for example, a spreader device with an outwardly and upwardly flared portion which diverts the liquid mixture to an annular collector or it may comprise a mushroom-shaped surface for directing the liquid mixture into a collector surrounding the support rod.