EFFECT OF GEOMETRICAL AND OPERATIONAL PARAMETER ON OIL-WATER SEPARATION IN AXIAL INLET HYDROCYCLONE

Abstract

To overcome the high water content in numerous oil fields, axial inlet hydrocyclone is
considered an alternative device of oil-water separation technique that is used downfield.
This type of hydrocyclone has a rare previous work compared to other vortex tube
separators. Additionally, the accurate mechanism of the enhanced separation process by
optimizing the separation technologies remains unclear. Therefore, an extensive study was
conducted to expand the application range of the axial inlet hydrocyclone. This work
presents a literature review of the different separation technologies for the axial inlet
hydrocyclone. These are categorized into two groups: (i) geometrical parameters including,
internal swirl element (ISE), swirl chamber, and (ii) operational parameters including, inlet
flow rate, feed temperature, mixture fraction, and droplet size. The influence of these
parameters on the velocity components profile and pressure drop were analyzed based on
the separation performance parameters such as separation efficiency and pressure drop.
This work could serve as an engineering tool that results in the enhanced economic
workability of separation by hydrocyclone.