Computational fluid dynamics study of the parameters affecting oil—water hydrocyclone performance

Abstract

Parameters affecting the performance of de-oiling hydrocyclones are related to geometry, flow, and the fluids to separate. Global assessment studies have been conducted since the invention of the device in the 1980s, while the internal flow field still deserves exploration. The present work investigates the multi-phase flow behaviour of a de-oiling hydrocyclone using computational fluid dynamics. The Reynolds stress and the renormalization group k—ε turbulence models combined with the multi-phase mixture model, implemented in the commercial code FLUENT, were employed to predict the different features of the complex multi-component flow inside the hydrocyclone. Profiles of the velocity components and the Reynolds stresses revealed interesting explanations of the effects of feed flowrate, feed oil concentration, and oil droplet size on the separation efficiency, which is the most important performance indicator. Pressure drop and friction coefficient results are also presented and discussed.