An experimental study of a new vane-type pipe separator (VTPS) was conducted for the possible application in the well-bore for oil-water separation and reinjection. Results by using particle image velocimetry (PIV) reveal a better flow field distribution for oil-water separation, which is formed in VTPS than that in hydrocyclone. The effects of split ratio, the oil content, guide vanes' installation and number of guide vanes on oil-water separation performance have been investigated experimentally. Compared to a traditional single hydrocyclone, VTPS shows a good separation performance as the water content at the inlet of VTPS reaches 79.9%, the oil content at the water-rich outlet is about 400 ppm while the split is near 0.70. These results are helpful to provide a possibly new design for downhole oil-water separation.
Abstract:The oil/water separation in a liquid-liquid cylindrical cyclone is experimentally studied in this article. The effects of the flow split-ratio and the flow rate on the oil/water separation performance are determined. From the experimental results, it is shown that with the increase of the flow split-ratio, the oil/water separation efficiency is enhanced at first, and an optimal flow split-ratio exists, beyond that optimal split-ratio, the watercut in the underflow keeps constant, while the oil content in the overflow begins to decrease. The process of the oil core structure formation and the phase distribution in the cyclone are determined by numerical simulations. Furthermore, the dependence of the separation efficiency on the Reynolds number and the flow split-ratio is investigated based on a dimensional analysis. A comparison between the predicted values and the experimental data shows a good agreement.
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