Study on the influence of different factors on the performance of centrifugal supergravity oil-water separator

As the development of oil fields progresses, an increasing number of fields are entering high water-cut stages.Onsite oil-water separation and wastewater reinjection are crucial for reducing water treatment loads and energy consumption in crude oil transportation. Traditional oil-water separators suffer from issues such as large size and low separation efficiency. Therefore, this paper investigates a highly efficient centrifugal supergravity oil-water separator. Numerical simulations examined the impact of flow parameters, structural parameters, and physical properties on the separator's flow field and performance. The research findings reveal that the oil-water separation efficiency decreases with an increase in water content. As the inlet flow increased, the oil content at the water outlet continuously rose. With an increase in motor speed, the separation efficiency initially increased and then stabilized. Within the simulated range, the number of blades was positively correlated with the separation effect, while the blade ripple radius, oil density, and viscosity were negatively correlated with the separator's effectiveness. An increase in orifice diameter caused fluctuations in the separation effect and the oil content at the water outlet.