Drop-drop coalescence is important in electric dehydrators used for oil-water separation in the oil industry.The deformation degree,angle between the electric field and the center line of two drops,effects of intensit...Drop-drop coalescence is important in electric dehydrators used for oil-water separation in the oil industry.The deformation degree,angle between the electric field and the center line of two drops,effects of intensities and frequencies of the electric field have been studied by analyzing droplet images.However,seldom have people investigated the movement and the relative velocity in the process of dropdrop coalescence.In this paper forces acting on a single droplet and horizontal water droplets in an AC electric field were analyzed,and experiments were carried out to investigate the deformation,movement and coalescence characteristics of droplets with white oil and water.With a micro high-speed camera system and image processing technology,the droplet images were collected and analyzed.The results indicate that the deformation is mainly affected by the electric field intensity,frequency,droplet diameter and the oil viscosity.High field strength and large diameter facilitate deformation of drops in the electric field.The effect of frequency and oil viscosity is not obvious.Higher frequency and higher oil viscosity will lead to smaller oscillation amplitude.The effect of electric field intensity and droplet diameter on oscillation amplitude is not obvious.When the center-to-center distance between droplets is large,the forces acting on droplets in the horizontal direction are mainly dipole-dipole attraction and drag forces.There is also the film-thinning force when droplets get closer.The forces are simplified and derived.Based on force analysis and Newton＇s second law,the relative movement is analyzed in different parts,and the relationship of center-to-center distance and time is in accordance with an explinear function at different stages.According to experimental data,the movement of 145 μm double droplets before coalescence can be fitted well with an explinear function at two stages.In addition,the whole movement process is investigated and can be estimated with a fourth order polynomial curve,from which the relative velocity of droplet movement can also be obtained.With an increases in electric field intensity and droplet diameter and a decrease in oil viscosity,the relative velocity increases.Only when the oil-water interfacial tension is obviously high,can it influence the relative movement significantly.The coalescence is mainly dipole coalescence and chain coalescence under influence of the AC electric field.展开更多
The combined T junctions used for the oil-water separation have the advantages of compactness in structure, consistency in effects and economy in cost. The mixture k- ε turbulence model and the Eulerian multi-fluid m...The combined T junctions used for the oil-water separation have the advantages of compactness in structure, consistency in effects and economy in cost. The mixture k- ε turbulence model and the Eulerian multi-fluid model are used to simulate the flow and phase distribution in the combined T junctions. The effects of structural parameters such as the branched pipe interval and height on the flow distribution and the separation behaviors are studied. The results show that the combined T junctions under fixed inlet and outlet boundary conditions form a single hydraulic equilibrium system in which the fluid energy distributes freely till a balance is achieved. The split-flow promotes the separation of the immiscible oil and the water. The separation efficiency increases with the increase of the branched pipe interval and changes slightly with the increase of the branched pipe height. The structural change of the combined T junctions may change the flow direction in the branched pipes. Simulation results can provide some guidance for the design of the combined T junctions as one kind of oil-water separator.展开更多
基金supported by a grant from Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 51106182, 51274233, 51006124)Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province of China (ZR2010EQ040)
文摘Drop-drop coalescence is important in electric dehydrators used for oil-water separation in the oil industry.The deformation degree,angle between the electric field and the center line of two drops,effects of intensities and frequencies of the electric field have been studied by analyzing droplet images.However,seldom have people investigated the movement and the relative velocity in the process of dropdrop coalescence.In this paper forces acting on a single droplet and horizontal water droplets in an AC electric field were analyzed,and experiments were carried out to investigate the deformation,movement and coalescence characteristics of droplets with white oil and water.With a micro high-speed camera system and image processing technology,the droplet images were collected and analyzed.The results indicate that the deformation is mainly affected by the electric field intensity,frequency,droplet diameter and the oil viscosity.High field strength and large diameter facilitate deformation of drops in the electric field.The effect of frequency and oil viscosity is not obvious.Higher frequency and higher oil viscosity will lead to smaller oscillation amplitude.The effect of electric field intensity and droplet diameter on oscillation amplitude is not obvious.When the center-to-center distance between droplets is large,the forces acting on droplets in the horizontal direction are mainly dipole-dipole attraction and drag forces.There is also the film-thinning force when droplets get closer.The forces are simplified and derived.Based on force analysis and Newton＇s second law,the relative movement is analyzed in different parts,and the relationship of center-to-center distance and time is in accordance with an explinear function at different stages.According to experimental data,the movement of 145 μm double droplets before coalescence can be fitted well with an explinear function at two stages.In addition,the whole movement process is investigated and can be estimated with a fourth order polynomial curve,from which the relative velocity of droplet movement can also be obtained.With an increases in electric field intensity and droplet diameter and a decrease in oil viscosity,the relative velocity increases.Only when the oil-water interfacial tension is obviously high,can it influence the relative movement significantly.The coalescence is mainly dipole coalescence and chain coalescence under influence of the AC electric field.
基金Project supported by the Chinese National Important Project of Science and Technology Foundation(Project No.2011ZX05026-004)
文摘The combined T junctions used for the oil-water separation have the advantages of compactness in structure, consistency in effects and economy in cost. The mixture k- ε turbulence model and the Eulerian multi-fluid model are used to simulate the flow and phase distribution in the combined T junctions. The effects of structural parameters such as the branched pipe interval and height on the flow distribution and the separation behaviors are studied. The results show that the combined T junctions under fixed inlet and outlet boundary conditions form a single hydraulic equilibrium system in which the fluid energy distributes freely till a balance is achieved. The split-flow promotes the separation of the immiscible oil and the water. The separation efficiency increases with the increase of the branched pipe interval and changes slightly with the increase of the branched pipe height. The structural change of the combined T junctions may change the flow direction in the branched pipes. Simulation results can provide some guidance for the design of the combined T junctions as one kind of oil-water separator.
