Abstract
This study presents computational fluid dynamics analyses on oil–water flow characteristics in a horizontal separator. The performance of these vessels are inferred from mean residence time and cumulative residence time distribution of the hydrocarbon phase inside the separator. The authors model a separator used by previous researchers and evaluate mean residence time of the hydrocarbon phase in a two-phase mixture of oil and water. Three different water-cuts of 21%, 32%, and 57% are used. Additional analyses are done to assess how certain geometric features of the separator influence hydrocarbon mean residence time. The results show that the addition of a second perforated baffle plate does not improve the hydrocarbon mean residence time significantly. However, introducing a downward slanting throat section between the primary zone and the gravity separation zone improves the hydrocarbon mean residence time at 21% and 32% water-cuts. The results suggest oil–water separators with a throat section may be more efficient than regular horizontal separators without the throat section at low water-cuts.
Highlights
Multiphase separators are among the first production equipment through which the well fluids flow
At 57% water-cut, the cumulative residence time distribution (CRTD) curve is the slowest to approach 1. This suggests that, mean residence time (MRT) increases with increase in water-cut in geometry (a)
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results agreeing with experiments Crude-oil MRT increases with increase in water-cut With the single baffle plate configuration, residence time distribution (RTD) peaks occur close to start RTD peak height drops with increase in water-cut RTD peaks shift towards the right on the plot with increase in water-cut At larger water-cuts secondary RTD peaks are observed
Summary
Multiphase separators are among the first production equipment through which the well fluids flow. The petroleum industry incurs large expenses to transport produced well fluids onshore. Multiphase separators can be classified as vertical, horizontal, spherical, and cyclone separators on the basis of construction. Vertical separators are commonly used when produced fluids have high gasoil ratio (GOR) [1, 2]. They may be used at locations with limited space. Horizontal separators are preferred when produced fluids have large fractions of liquids. Spherical separators are less expensive, they are less commonly used because of their limited liquid settling section and surge space [3]
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