Abstract
The CFD simulations are carried out for the flows in a helical gas-liquid separator, which is installed at the inlet of the electric submersible pump (ESP) to separate gas from gas-liquid mixture and keep the efficiency of the pump. The effects of mass flux, curvature and helix angle on two-phase pressure drop have been investigated. Through theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, it is found that the mass flux of two-phase flow and the curvature of spiral passage have influence on pressure drop, while the spiral angle has little effect on pressure loss.
Highlights
The gas-liquid separator is widely used in artificial lifting system, mainly installed at the entrance of centrifugal pump, sucker rod system and screw pump and so on, in order to separate as much gas as possible from the mixed flow of oil and gas underground
It is obvious that the pressure loss of gas-liquid separator through the spiral channel with rectangular cross section is predicted by the CFD method, which has some guiding significance for the optimization and structure design of the separator
The gravity, acceleration and frictional pressure drop in a vertical pipe are shown as followed equations, respectively: dP dL
Summary
The gas-liquid separator is widely used in artificial lifting system, mainly installed at the entrance of centrifugal pump, sucker rod system and screw pump and so on, in order to separate as much gas as possible from the mixed flow of oil and gas underground. Chen and Guo [1, 2] studied the pressure loss of oil, gas and water in the spiral tube through the experimental method, and gave the calculation formula of pressure drop under the test condition. A series of studies on flow morphology and pressure loss in spiral channels with rectangular cross sections were carried out by Xia et al [3]. It is obvious that the pressure loss of gas-liquid separator through the spiral channel with rectangular cross section is predicted by the CFD method, which has some guiding significance for the optimization and structure design of the separator
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