Multiphase flow effects in a horizontal oil and gas separator

Michael Frank, Robin Kamenicky, Dimitris Drikakis, Lee Thomas, Hans Ledin, Terry Wood

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

An oil and gas separator is a device used in the petroleum industry to separate a fluid mixture into its gaseous and liquid phases. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study aiming to identify key design features for optimising the performance of the device, is presented. A multiphase turbulent model is employed to simulate the flow through the separator and identify flow patterns that can impinge on or improve its performance. To verify our assumptions, we consider three different geometries. Recommendations for the design of more cost- and energy-effective separators, are provided. The results are also relevant to broader oil and gas industry applications, as well as applications involving stratified flows through channels.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2116
JournalEnergies
Volume12
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Jun 2019

Keywords

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Energy systems
  • Multiphase Flow
  • Oil and Gas
  • Separator

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Multiphase flow effects in a horizontal oil and gas separator'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this