Oil–water flow splitting in eccentric annular T-junction tubes—Experimental and CFD analysis

Abstract

A novel eccentric annular T-junction tube was designed for oil–water separation. The separation characteristics of the eccentric annular T-junction tube were investigated by performing experiments and numerical analyses. The Eulerian model combined with the standard k-ε turbulence model was used to numerically analyze the flow characteristics. Combining the dynamic separation principle of the T-junction tubes with the shallow pond theory, the eccentric annular T-junctions can achieve better overall separation performance than the regular T-junctions. The experimental results indicated that reducing the degree of mixing of the two-phases at the inlet improved the phase separation in the eccentric annular T-junction tubes. The flow pattern had a larger effect on the separation performance than the mixture velocity. The floating oil tube was beneficial to the oil–water separation, particularly at a low mixture velocity and high oil content. The results can be used for the design and operation of tube separators.