Presented
here is experimental and theoretical work on phase transitions
and separation time scales for CO2–crude oil mixtures
with CO2 content ranging from pure to 79 mol %. The experimental
work was performed using the wheel flow loop located at the SINTEF
Multiphase Flow Laboratory. Under constant volume conditions, phase
transition temperature and pressures were determined, as well as the
volume fractions of the respective phases. The results indicated good
agreement between the experimentally determined phase transitions
and the phase diagrams predicted by the thermodynamic model. It was
shown that the measured torque was sufficient to determine the pressure–temperature
conditions of the phase transitions. Furthermore, separation times
were measured for both oil-in-CO2 and CO2-in-oil
in a range of conditions for the respective fluid systems. Results
showed that the separation times were considerably shorter for the
CO2 continuous fluid system compared to oil continuous.
Moreover, a comparison of Weber numbers for the various test conditions
indicated that the drop sizes influence the overall separation time,
which is affected by settling and coalescence processes. Finally,
this study showed that the wheel flow loop is well suited for the
study of CO2-rich systems for determination of volume fractions
of phases, phase transitions, and transport and separation.