| 摘要 |
A horizontal separator for separating impurities from geothermal steam or the like is provided which includes a pair of drip or drain legs for accommodating the separated fluid portion containing the impurities. To maintain the temperature of the drain legs sufficiently high to prevent hardening of the impurities on the walls thereof, a portion of the steam continuously flows into the drain leg with the separated impurities. In order to minimize venting of the steam supplied to the drain legs directly to atmosphere and consequent environmental problems, and also to improve the efficiency of operation of the separator, recycle lines are provided between the drain legs and the inlet to the separator for recycling a portion of the steam. At the inlet, this recycled steam is drawn into the separator by way of an ejector-type recycle pump. In preferred embodiments, two drip legs are provided for the horizontal separator and the recycle flow back into the recycle pump is equalized for the two legs using control valves in the recycle lines. Preferred embodiments also provide for reversal of the drip leg steam flow in the drip legs before it is recycled so as to minimize the impurities in the recycled steam.
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