Study on oil–water two-phase flow characteristics of the hydrocyclone under periodic excitation

Study on flow field characteristics of gas-liquid hydrocyclone separation under vibration conditions

The complex vibration phenomenon occurs in the downhole environment of the gas-liquid hydrocyclone, which affects the flow field in the hydrocyclone. In order to study the influence of vibration on hydrocyclone separation, the characteristics of the flow field in the downhole gas-liquid hydrocyclone were analyzed and studied under the condition of vibration coupling. Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computational Solid Mechanics Method (CSM) and fluid-solid coupling method, a fluid-solid coupling mechanical model of a gas-liquid cyclone is established. It is found that under the condition of vibration coupling, the velocity components in the three directions of the hydrocyclone flow field change obviously. The peak values of tangential velocity and axial velocity decrease, and the asymmetry of radial velocity increases. The distribution regularity of vorticity and turbulence intensity in the overflow pipe becomes worse. Among them, the vorticity intensity of the overflow pipe is obviously enhanced, and the higher turbulence intensity near the wall occupies more area distribution range. The gas-liquid separation efficiency of the hydrocyclone will decrease with the increase of the rotational speed of the screw pump, and the degree of reduction can reach more than 10%. However, this effect will decrease with the increase of the rotational speed of the screw pump, so the excitation effect caused by the rotational speed has a maximum limit on the flow field.

Modeling and Numerical Simulation of the Inlet Velocity on Oil–Water Two-Phase Vapor Separation Efficiency by the Hydrocyclone

The density of tar vapor and water vapor produced by coal pyrolysis is different. Different centrifugal forces will be generated when they flow through the hydrocyclone. The water vapor and tar vapor are divided into inner and outer layers. According to this phenomenon, the moisture in the tar can be removed. In this paper, a Eulerian gas–liquid two-phase flow model is established by numerical simulation to study the effect of inlet velocity on the separation effect of a designed hydrocyclone (split ratio 0.2). The results show that the inlet velocity and moisture content have an influence on the volume distribution characteristics, tangential velocity, axial velocity, pressure drop distribution, and separation efficiency of tar vapor and water vapor in the hydrocyclone. When the inlet velocity increases from 2.0 to 12.0 m/s, the central swirl intensity increases, and the negative pressure sweep range at the overflow outlet increases. The axial velocity increased from 2.8 to 14.9 m/s, tar vapor content at the overflow outlet decreased from 74% to 37%, and at the underflow outlet increased from 89% to 92%. When the moisture content is lower than 10%, the hydrocyclone with the split ratio of 0.20 is no longer suitable for the separation of oil–water two-phase vapor. However, when the water content is higher than 20%, the purity of tar vapor at the underflow outlet can reach 92%, and the overflow outlet needs multistage separation to realize tar purification.

Effect of Internal Vortex-Finder on Classification Performance for Double Vortex-Finder Hydrocyclone

The double vortex-finder hydrocyclone formed by a coaxial insertion of an internal vortex-finder with a smaller diameter inside the conventional single vortex-finder used to obtain two kinds of products from the internal and external overflows in one classification has attracted wide attention. To further improve the classification performance of the hydrocyclone, the effects of the internal vortex-finder diameter and length on the classification performance were studied by numerical simulation and response surface modeling with the behavior of fluid and particle motion in the double vortex-finder hydrocyclone as the research object. The results showed that the split ratio and pressure drop of internal and external overflow increased with the diameter of the internal vortex-finder. The classification performance was optimal when the diameter ratio of internal and external overflow was 0.88, the yield of −20 μm particles was more than 80.0%, and the highest was 95.0%. Increasing the internal vortex-finder length could reduce the coarse particle content and improve the classification accuracy of the internal overflow product. When the length of the internal vortex-finder is larger than 80 mm, the +30 μm yield was lower than 20.0%, and the maximum k value was 16.3%; the k is the significant factor used to characterize the effectiveness of −20 μm particle collection. The response surface modeling revealed that the internal vortex-finder diameter was the most important factor affecting the distribution rate of internal overflow. This paper is expected to advance the development of the classification industry.

Oily Water Separation Process Using Hydrocyclone of Porous Membrane Wall: A Numerical Investigation

This research aims to study the process of separating water contaminated with oil using a hydrocyclone with a porous wall (membrane), containing two tangential inlets and two concentric outlets (concentrate and permeate), at the base of the equipment. For the study, the computational fluid dynamics technique was used in a Eulerian–Eulerian approach to solve the mass and linear momentum conservation equations and the turbulence model. The effects of the concentration polarization layer thickness and membrane rejection coefficient on the permeate flow, hydrodynamic behavior of the fluids inside the hydrocyclone, and equipment performance were evaluated. Results of the velocity, transmembrane pressure and oil concentration profiles along the equipment, and hydrocyclone performance are presented and analyzed. The results confirmed the effect of the membrane rejection coefficient on the equipment performance and the high potential of the hydrocyclone with a porous wall to be used in the oil–water mixture separation.