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Rheology‐Based Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling for De‐oiling Hydrocyclone Efficiency
Author(s) -
Li Changjun,
Huang Qian
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemical engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-4125
pISSN - 0930-7516
DOI - 10.1002/ceat.201500623
Subject(s) - hydrocyclone , computational fluid dynamics , rheology , viscosity , turbulence , emulsion , experimental data , reynolds stress , materials science , petroleum engineering , mechanics , engineering , mathematics , chemical engineering , physics , composite material , statistics
The de‐oiling hydrocyclone belongs to the most effective devices to recover oil from oily wastewater. An improved multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed for simulating oil‐water separation in a de‐oiling hydrocyclone. This model approach uses the Reynolds stress model to resolve the turbulent and the modified mixture model with a new viscosity correlation of oil‐in‐water (O/W) emulsions. This modified model of emulsion viscosity based on the power law equation and experimental data of three types of crude oil is introduced to predict the viscosity of O/W emulsions. A comparison between experimental and predicted values of separation efficiency demonstrates that multiphase simulations with the modified model of viscosity provide a better accuracy than CFD models associated with original rheological models. This improved CFD model can be further applied in developing new designs in the future.