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Abstract—The characteristics of fluid flow and phase separation Also, separation which is one component of a production
in an oil-water separator were numerically analysed as part of the phase poses a distinctive challenge on a floating platform
work presented herein. Simulations were performed for different because of the unavoidable wave motion to be expected at sea.
velocities and droplet diameters, and the way this parameters can These wave motions, i.e. pitch, heave, yaw, sway, surge and
influence the separator geometry was studied. roll are present even in calm weather conditions. They tend to
The simulations were carried out using the software package
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World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Chemical and Molecular Engineering
Vol:4, No:1, 2010
The design of separators has up to now mainly been based A cylinder of radius 0.403 m and height 2 m was created.
on the API design rules. The API rules are proven, but all the The created cylinder was then moved to a distance of x = -
effects of non-ideal flow due to inlet/ outlets and internal 11.5 m, y = 0.4 m, z = 0 m from the reference point
equipment used to enhance separation are neglected. (CENTERED X).
Considerable safety factors must therefore be used in design The volume of the new cylinder was split with the volume
work. of the hemisphere. A portion of the cylinder remaining in the
With the advent of powerful computers and fluid flow hemisphere was then deleted.
modelling software, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
has become an alternative tool with which to assess the
Creation of Outlet_gas:
performance of a separator under different regimes. Not only
can the thermal effects be incorporated, but also every detail A cylinder of radius 0.403 m and height 1 m was created.
of the flow field becomes available for extracting measures of The created cylinder was then moved to a distance of x = 8.75
performance. m, y = 1.5 m, z = 0 m from the reference point (CENTERED
The study presented herein will attempt to determine the Y).
effect different parameters like velocity and droplet diameter The volume of the new cylinder was split with the volume
will have on the separator geometry using computational fluid of the rectangular portion of the original cylinder. A portion of
dynamics. the new cylinder remaining inside the rectangular portion of
the cylinder was then deleted.
International Science Index, Chemical and Molecular Engineering Vol:4, No:1, 2010 waset.org/Publication/6990
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International Journal of Chemical and Molecular Engineering
Vol:4, No:1, 2010
Inlet
Air
outlet
Water
outlet
Oil outlet
International Science Index, Chemical and Molecular Engineering Vol:4, No:1, 2010 waset.org/Publication/6990
Modelling half of the Separator: A rectangular face was created with dimensions of: width
25 m and length 2.5 m. The separator (Volume 1) was then
Bisecting the separator geometry by half along the X-axis
used to split the rectangular face (Volume 2).
will not only reduce the computation time but provide the
Volume 2 was then subtracted from Volume 1, to form half
option of controlling the density of interval counts along the
of a separator (see fig. 2).
ends of the edges. It also provided the opportunity of
visualizing what was actually happening inside the separator.
B. Grid generation
The separator that was developed was then meshed using
Tri/ Tetrahedral mesh with an interval size of 0.12 m (see
fig. 3). The number of cells generated was 181,370.
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World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Chemical and Molecular Engineering
Vol:4, No:1, 2010
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World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Chemical and Molecular Engineering
Vol:4, No:1, 2010
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World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Chemical and Molecular Engineering
Vol:4, No:1, 2010
A. Comparing the contours of volume fraction of oil for a velocity of 0.5 m/ s, and 1.0 m/ s with a droplet diameter of 1
mm
International Science Index, Chemical and Molecular Engineering Vol:4, No:1, 2010 waset.org/Publication/6990
Comparing the contours of oil volume fraction of Cases1 the water can separate out of the oil. The water falls to the
and 2 (respectively figures 4, and 5), it can be observed that bottom of the separator with the oil on top, which flows over
the lighter oil layer floats on top of the water layer and spills the weir and into the oil section. However, when the mixture
over the weir into the oil chamber, where it is withdrawn, due velocity is increased to 1.0 m/ s as shown in fig. 5, the level of
to differences in density in all the three cases. The heavier water in the separator has increased above the height of the
water layer remains on the inlet side of the weir and is weir, resulting in water spill over the weir into the oil section
withdrawn through a separate interface. The weir plate allows of the separator.
the top layer of the oil/ water section to cascade over and
accumulate in the oil only section of the separator thus In summary, the aforementioned results showed that an
facilitating separate oil and water draw offs from the vessel. increase in mixture velocity results in an increase in water
The red colour according to the contour line indicates level to a point where it begins to overflow into the oil section
maximum oil, while blue indicates maximum water. A change of the separator. These results obtained are in agreement with
in colour signifies mixed flow. those obtained by [5]. The design of the separator should take
cognisance of the mixture velocity such that when the mixture
Fig. 4 show that at a mixture velocity of 0.5 m/ s, the level velocity is high, the geometry of the separator can be changed
of water in the separator is below the height of the weir, by increasing the weir height.
indicating that there is no overflow of water into the oil
section. The weir forms a dam, which creates a section where
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World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Chemical and Molecular Engineering
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B. Comparing the contours of volume fraction of oil for a velocity of 0.5 m/ s, with differing droplet diameters of 0.5 mm and
0.25 mm
International Science Index, Chemical and Molecular Engineering Vol:4, No:1, 2010 waset.org/Publication/6990
Fig. 6: contours of volume fraction of oil (0.5 mm diameter) for a velocity of 0.5 m/ s
Fig. 7: contours of volume fraction of oil (0.25 mm diameter) for a velocity of 0.5 m/ s
Comparing the contours of oil volume fraction of Cases 1, 3 In summary, the aforementioned results showed that with
and 4 (respectively figures 4, 6 and 7), it can be observed that the same volume of oil, there are significant differences in
there are increases in mixed flow patterns in the separator separation of oil and water when different droplet sizes are
when accompanied by a decrease in droplet diameter. The selected. Indicating that the smaller droplet will result in more
mixed flow pattern showed that there is no clear change from mixed flow than the larger bubbles where separation of two-
water to oil indicating that an emulsion layer exists at the phases is more prominent. These results obtained are in
interface. Formation of emulsions occurs when oil and water agreement with the works of [4]; [5]. The design of the
is agitated inside the separator. This tends to bring about a separator should take cognisance of the size of the droplet
decrease in accumulation level of the liquid required for diameter so as to avoid mixed flow patterns.
separation.
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World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Chemical and Molecular Engineering
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C. Comparing the contours of velocity vector of oil for a velocity of 0.5 m/ s and 1.0 m/ s with a droplet diameter of 1
mm
International Science Index, Chemical and Molecular Engineering Vol:4, No:1, 2010 waset.org/Publication/6990
Fig. 8: contours of velocity vector of oil (1.0 mm diameter) for a velocity of 0.5 m/ s
Fig. 9: contours of velocity vector of oil (1.0 mm diameter) for a velocity of 1.0 m/ s
The intensity of velocity vector is depicted by different present therein. It can also be observed that there is significant
colours as shown. The maximum, medium and least intensity turbulence from the inlet into the separator; the fluid flow is
are represented by red, green and blue respectively. The not uniform. The presence of a perforated plate at the inlet is
velocity vector can be used to explain fluid movement with the necessary to straighten flow. It can be observed that fig. 8
red colour indicating maximum movement while blue colour showed a darker colouration than fig. 9.
indicating no movement of flow. And the green colour Fig. 8 shows a high turbulence level at the inlet, and a much
indicates average fluid movement. The velocity vector can darker blue colour than fig. 9 at the oil outlet. This shows that
also be used to explain phase separation depending on it has the least intensity therein. It also indicates that there is
velocity. A change in colour indicates there is a phase no fluid movement (stagnant). When the mixture velocity is
separation going on. 1.0 m/ s, a higher turbulence compared to fig. 8 at the oil
It can be observed that figures 8 and 9 show the same outlet and inlet are observed as shown in fig. 9.
colour red at the water outlet, indicating that there is a In summary, the velocity vector shows that the movement
maximum intensity there. It shows that there is maximum of fluid and turbulence (at inlet and outlet) increases with
movement of fluid. It also signifies that only one fluid is mixture velocity at constant bubble diameter.
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Vol:4, No:1, 2010
k phase index
IV. CONCLUSIONS m mixture
Predicting the effect of different parameters like velocity
Other symbols and operators
and bubble diameters has been successfully carried out. The
Eulerian model for a multiphase flow as implemented in the u Average of u
software Fluent 6.2 was used to solve the governing equations, ∇ Gradient operator
while GAMBIT2.2 was used for generating the separator ∂
geometry. Partial derivative
The results of the analysis show that there is a strong ∂t
dependency of phase separation on mixture velocity and D
droplet diameter. Simulations using the same volume fraction Total derivative
of oil with different mixture velocities and droplet diameters
DT
gave different results. The results show that a mixture velocity C μ , σ k , σ ε , C1 and C 2 empirical constants
of 0.5 m/ s produced the best result when compared with 1.0 δ Kronecker delta function
m/ s. Mixture velocity of 1.0 m/ s require the weir height to
x Spatial co-ordinate
be increased, so as to prevent water over flowing into the oil
section of the separator. The result of 1.0 mm droplet diameter div Divergence of a vector field
International Science Index, Chemical and Molecular Engineering Vol:4, No:1, 2010 waset.org/Publication/6990
Greek letters
α Volume fraction [-]
μ Dynamic viscosity [ kg / m.s ]
ρ Material density [ kg / m 3 ]
σ Surface tension [ N / m ]
τ Stress tensor [ N / m 2 ]
λ Second (bulk) viscosity [ kg / m s ]
3
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