Effects of electrode geometry on emulsion dehydration efficiency

Abstract

The complicated nature of current wet crude oil requires a further upgrade of electrical dehydration technology that can satisfy the latest processing criteria. This study investigated the dehydration efficiency of a dispersed phase of distilled water in a continuous phase of conduction oil in electric fields created by three proposed electrodes. The electric field distribution was created and analyzed using COMSOL Multiphysics software and the level-set method. The results show that the electric fields created by our proposed electrodes can aid the dehydration process by optimizing the electric field distribution and the electropolymerization behaviors. Furthermore, the results indicate that the non-uniform fields formed by the proposed electrodes can lead to acceleration in the movement of water droplets as well as a facilitated sedimentation stage. A water film created by a copper mesh electrode can induce a droplet–interface coalescence, and the geometry of a grid electrode can promote a two-phase oil and water movement. These results could provide insights for the future design of the best electrode geometry for efficient electrocoalescence.