Laboratory and Oilfield Experiments of A Fast

Oil-Water Separator
Lixin Zhao, Minghu Jiang
School of Mechanical Science and Engineering
Daqing Petroleum Institute
Daqing, China
Lx_zhao@yahoo.com.cn
AbstractStructural principle and state-of-the-art of
hydrocyclonic separation are introduced first. The performance
of a fast oil-water separator, dynamic hydrocyclone, is described.
Laboratory study and oilfield tests of the dynamic hydrocyclone
were carried out. Some photos were taken so as to indicate flow
phenomena inside hydrocyclone and were analyzed for
understanding the effect of some varieties on hydrocyclonic
separation. The change of some parameters was studied for their
effect on dynamic hydrocyclones separation performance.
Oilfield test showed satisfactory results as anticipated.
Keywords-laboratory; oilfield; experiment; oil-water separator
I. INTRODUCTION
The hydrocyclone has small volume, short separation time,
convenient operation and maintenance, and many other
advantages [1-3]. Liquid-liquid hydrocyclones, the separators
for immiscible phases by making use of the density difference,
were developed in 1980s. With the ever-increasing deepening
research, the application fields are becoming wider, such as
petrochemical, environmental industries, etc, especially on
offshore platforms, where space is limited and valuable.
According to whether the outer wall of hydrocyclone is
rotatable or not, it can be classified into two types, static and
dynamic hydrocyclone.
Although the static hydrocyclone has been applied in
many industries, some shortcomings do exist: For example,
inside the hydrocyclone vortex cavity, the flow field is
turbulent. Thus it is possible for oil droplets to be re-
emulsified and then separation efficiency declined [4-6].
When running below the rated flowrate, with the drop of
flowrate, separation efficiency decreases. The suitable
flowrate operating range is very narrow. A single
hydrocyclone tube can only be used for a certain working
flowrate, which is less than 10m
3
/h normally. For larger
flowrate application, many hydrocyclone tubes should be
installed inside a pressured vessel, which is because the larger
the diameter of hydrocyclone tube, the larger the cut size [2],
and then the lower the separation efficiency. In the areas of oil
well produced-fluid pre-separation, static hydrocyclone has
got successful application [7], but it cannot be used effectively
for oil-water fine separation.
The structure of dynamic hydrocyclone is shown in Fig. 1.
The separating principle is different with that of the static
hydrocyclone [8]. Mixed fluid flows into the hydrocyclone
through the left axial inlet. The outer shell, i.e., hydrocyclone
wall, is driven by a motor. The mixed fluid revolves inside the
hydrocyclone driven by high-speed rotation of outer shell. The
heavier phase, i.e., water, is separated out to the wall under the
function of centrifugal separation, and then drained by the side
outlet; while the lighter phase, i.e., oil, is forced to move to the
center, and ejected through the centered oil outlet.
Compared with static hydrocyclone, the fluid tangential
velocity inside the dynamic hydrocyclone is hardly influenced
by axial position. This is because the revolving of dynamic
hydrocyclone is driven by a motor, not just by flow energy, as
in static hydrocyclones. The suitable flowrate range for
satisfied separation is wider. It can be used to separate finer oil
droplets, e.g., less than 15m, for the turbulence inside the
fluid is relatively weak. Thus the efficiency can be much higher
than that of static hydrocyclones. The dynamic hydrocyclone
can be used to treat polymer-flooding produced water, and
even heavy oil produced water.
II. MAINGEOMETRICPARAMETERS
The main geometric parameters of dynamic hydrocyclone
include nominal diameter (i.e., outer shell inner diameter) D,
length of outer shell l, inlet diameter d
i
, overflow (oil) outlet
diameter d
o
, and underflow (water) outlet diameter d
w
, etc.
The nominal diameter D is determined by flowrate. When
the maximum flowrate is defined, D can be decided. If the
working flowrate is higher than maximum flowrate, the
efficiency will be decreased, and pressure drop increased. Inlet
Figure 1. Structural sketch of dynamic hydrocyclone
Sponsored by Heilongjiang Scientific Research Key Project (GA06C202-03)
and Excellent Youth Foundation of Heilongjiang Scientific Committee
(JC200719).
Water
l
di
dw
Oil
Motor
Inlet
do
Rotation vane
978-1-4244-1748-3/08/$25.00 2008 IEEE 2724
diameter has little influence on separation performance. When
d
i
decreases, inlet pressure drop increases. In general, its value
should be large enough in order to reduce pressure drop. The
overflow tube and water-draining tube are coaxial tubes. The
central tube is for overflow, i.e., oil outlet; the annulus space is
for water drainage. Normally the length of outer shell has direct
affect on separation efficiency, optimum flowrate and pressure
drop. It can be determined by mixed fluid residence time.
III. LABORATORYEXPERIMENTALSTUDY
A. Pressure Characteristics
1) Testing prototype and main parameters: The testing
prototype (No. 1 hydrocyclone) is made of steel in order to
carry out pressure tests. The inner diameter of the
hydrocyclone outer shell is 95 mm, length is 1.5 m, and the
diameter of overflow outlet is 8 mm. Designed flowrate is 15
m
3
/h. Maximum motor speed is 2900 r/min. The motor was
linked with hydrocyclone outer shell by a belt, which has a
transmission ratio of 1:1. The motor running frequency can be
adjusted by a variable frequency system (VFS) so as to change
the rotation speed of hydrocyclones outer shell. If the
frequency f is 40 Hz, the rotation speed is 2320 r/min.
Split ratio F is defined as the ratio of overflow flowrate Q
o
to that of the inlet flow Q
i
. During the tests, F was adjusted
normally to be 5% ~ 15%. A centrifugal pump was adopted
for laboratory experiments. Inlet flow, underflow and
overflow were connected with a same pressure transducer. By
valve switching, the pressure values of inlet, underflow, or
overflow can be measured and recorded. This way can
eliminate the error produced by individual measurement, so
enhance pressure measuring precision.
2) Effect of rotation speed on pressure drop: Pressure
drop p is defined as the difference between inlet pressure p
i
and underflow pressure p
u
or overflow pressure p
o
. The mixed
phase is separated by losing a part of pressure energy.
Therefore, the lower the pressure drop, the better [9].
Fig. 2 shows the relationship between rotation speed and
underflow pressure drop. It indicates that with the rise of
rotation speed the pressure drop increases. The change of
overflow pressure drop is similar.
3) Effect of flowrate on pressure drop: The larger the
flowrate, the higher the pressure drop (as shown in Fig. 3).
Experimental study shows that the relationship of flowrate
with pressure drop is nearly linear. With the rise of flowrate,
both underflow and overflow pressure drop increase.
B. Separation Performance Study
1) Testing prototypes and main parameters: No. 2
hydrocyclones outer shell was made of transparent plexiglass
in order to observe interior flow phenomenon.
The inner diameter of No. 2 hydrocyclones outer shell is
40 mm, its length is 1 m, and the diameter of overflow outlet
is 10 mm. Designed flowrate is 2.5 m
3
/h. The maximum motor
speed is 2900 r/min. The oily water was confected by tap
water and machine oil. A static mixer was used for mixing
water and oil to simulate mixed fluid. Photos were taken at the
vicinity of overflow outlet (a) and inlet rotation vane (b).
2) Effect of split ratio: By observation, the oil core line
inside dynamic hydrocyclone showed oscillating behavior,
which is similar to that of static hydrocyclone. It shows S
shape, as indicated in Fig. 4. It is analyzed that the S shape
may be due to the manufacturing error. From photos it was
found that around the interior shell there was some remaining
oil that not separated, which cannot move to the central oil
core. In addition, the diameter, shape, and color of oil core
alternated with operating parameters.
When the rotation speed is 870 r/min, with the rise of split
ratio F from 5% to 10%, no obvious difference occurred near
the rotation vane (as shown in Fig. 4 b-1 & b-2), while the oil
core near overflow outlet is concentrated (Fig. 4 a-1 & a-2).
Similarly, when the rotation speed is 1160 r/min (Fig. 4 a-3 &
a-4), with the rise of split ratio, the same phenomenon can also
be observed. In addition, when the rotation speed increases,
the remaining oil on the interior wall reduces.
Fig. 5 shows the relationship between split ratio F and
simplified separation efficiency E, which is defined as:
% 100 ) 1 ( =
i
u
C
C
E
(1)
where, C is the oil concentration, u represents underflow.
It can be found that the rise of F is beneficial for efficiency
enhancement. But it can also lead to the increase of overflow
water volume and the decrease of effective water treatment
volume. Therefore, split ratio must be controlled in an
appropriate range [10]. In addition, if the split ratio is too
large, the interior flow field will be destroyed [11].
3) Effect of rotation speed: As shown in Fig. 4, with the
rise of rotation speed from 870 to 2320 r/min, the forming
position of oil core moves closer to the rotation vane, i.e., the
oil core is formed earlier. It also becomes denser. It indicates
the rise of rotation speed is somewhat beneficial for
separation. It is also found that with the rise of rotation speed,
the interface between oil and water becomes more obvious.
But maybe due to the vibration of the outer shell, part of oil
near overflow outlet was diffused into the water again (Fig. 4
a-5, a-6, b-5 & b-6), which affects water quality.
0
0.03
0.06
0.09
0.12
0.15
0 1000 2000 3000
n (r/min)
p
i
u
(
M
P
a
)
Figure 2. Relationship between pu (represent with piu) and n
2725
Figure 3. Relationship between pu and Qi
Commencing with 2030 r/min, resonating occurred, that is,
a slight continuous vibration began. Oil-water separation
effect became worse. The interface between oil and water
became illegible, and oil core diameter became larger. In order
to protect the plexiglass shell, n was kept below 2320 r/min.
By theoretical analysis, the higher the rotation speed, the
better the separation effect. This is because that under a certain
flowrate, the higher the fluid revolving speed, the larger the
pressure gradient put on the oily water. Although the
efficiency can be enhanced, the pressure drop increases, the
vibration may be produced, which is not beneficial to actual
application. In that case, the span life and the reliability of the
separator will be affected.
Fig. 6 shows efficiency curves of No. 1 prototype. When
the rotation speed reaches 1450 r/min, the hydrocyclone
Figure 5. Effect of split ratio F on efficiency E under different speed n
begins to resonate, this leads to the drop of efficiency. When
the speed reaches 2030 r/min, the efficiency gets improved,
but drops again after that, which may be due to the high speed
that results in the strong shear force to the oil droplets.
4) Effect of flowrate: The effect of flowrate can also be
found from Figs. 6 & 7. The lower the flowrate, the higher the
efficiency, which is due to the rise of residence time inside the
hydrocyclone when the rotation speed keeps the same.
5) Effect of outer shell length: In general, when the
nominal diameter is defined, with the extension of outer shell
the residence time increases, which makes it possible for finer
oil droplets to be separated effectively, thus to enhance
efficiency. But too long outer shell will surely increase
pressure drop. The vibration magnitude might also be
enlarged, which is harmful for separation. As shown in Fig. 7,
the efficiency increases with the extension of outer shell.
R
2
= 0.9565
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Qi (m
3
/h)
p
i
u
(
M
P
a
)
Data point
Regression line
(a-1) (a-2) (a-3)
(a-4) (a-5) (a-6)
(b-1) (b-2) (b-3)
(b-4) (b-5) (b-6)
(1) F=5%, n=870 r/min; (2) F=10%, n=870 r/min; (3) F=5%, n=1160 r/min; (4) F=10%, n=1160 r/min; (5) F=15%, n=2030 r/min; (6) F=15%, n=2320 r/min
Figure 4. Flow field photos of the testing dynamic hydrocyclone
2726
95
96
97
98
99
100
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
n (r/min)
E

(
%
)
3.5 m
3
/h
4.5 m
3
/h
6.0 m
3
/h
Figure 6. Sepration efficiency curves of No. 1 hydrocyclone
IV. OILFIELDEXPERIMENTALRESEARCH
Oilfield experimental research was carried out in Daqing
Oilfields. This research is especially for polymer-flooding
produced water treatment, so it is much more difficult than
normal (e.g., water-flooding produced water) treatment. The
testing prototype is No. 1 hydrocyclone. The polymer
concentration is 400 mg/l. The process is shown in Fig. 8.
Testing process includes two means. One is to utilize the
pressure of FWKO (Free Water Knock-Out); the other way is
to adopt a PCP (progressive cavity pump) to boost pressure.
Typical data are shown in Table 1.
For the condition of without pump (scheme 1), due to the
lower inlet pressure, the flowrate can only reached 3 m
3
/h, but
the separation can reached above 90%. For scheme 2, due to
the re-emulsification function of the pump, the efficiency
dropped, compared with that of scheme 1, but still higher than
70%, when the flowrate is about 4 to 5 m
3
/h. For static
hydrocyclones, the efficiency can just reached about 50% [3].
The field testing results were satisfied.
V. CONCLUSIONS
The cut size of dynamic hydrocyclone is smaller than that
of the static one, thus the efficiency is much higher. It may be
a better choice for special water treatment applications.
The rise of rotation speed is beneficial for oil-water
separation to some extent. Within the present test condition,
1740 r/min is the best speed for satisfactory separation.
Figure 7. Effect of outer shell length l on efficiency E
Figure 8. Technological process of oilfield tests
The value of split ratio must be defined appropriately. But
considering the effect of resonating, it should be raised when
the rotation speed increases so as to improve separation effect.
REFERENCES
[1] D. Bradley (1965). The hydrocyclone, Pergamon Press, London, pp 1-
8
[2] L. Svarovsky (1984). Hydrocyclones, Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
London, pp 1-5
[3] M. H. Jiang, L. X. Zhao, F. Li, and Z. C. Wang (2000). Hydrocyclonic
separation technology, Harbin Institute of Technology Press, Harbin,
pp 3-8 (in Chinese)
[4] J. C. Cullivan J C, R. A. Williams, and C. R. Cross (2003).
"Understanding the hydrocyclone separator through computational fluid
dynamics". Trans. IChemE, Vol 81, Part A, pp 455-466
[5] F. Nowakowski, T. Dyakowski (2003). "Investigation of swirling flow
structure in hydrocyclones". Trans IChemE, Vol 81, Part A. pp 862-873
[6] S. Schuetz, G. Mayer, and M. Bierdel (2004). "Investigations on the
flow and separation behavior of hydrocyclones using computational
fluid dynamics". Mineral Processing. Vol 73. pp 229-237
[7] L. X. Zhao, M. H. Jiang, and D. Z. Sun (2005). "Recent progress of
hydrocyclonic separation technology research," Chinese Chemical
Industry and Engineering Progress, Vol 24, No 10, pp 11181123 (in
Chinese)
[8] Belaidi, M. T. Thew (2003). "The effect of oil and gas content on the
controllability and separation in a de-oiling hydrocyclone". Trans
IChemE, Vol 81, Part A, pp 305-314
[9] L. X. Zhao, A. Belaidi, and M. T. Thew (2003). Pressure
characteristics of hydrocyclones with gas injection, Proc. 13
th
International Offshore and Polar Engineering, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA,
Vol I, pp 68-72
[10] L. Y. Chu, W. M. Chen, and X. Z. Lee (2002). "Enhancement of
hydrocyclone performance by controlling the inside turbulence
structure". Chemical Engineering Science, Vol.57, No.1, pp 207-212
[11] M. T. Thew (1986). Hydrocyclone Redesign for Liquid-Liquid
Separation. The Chemical Engineer. Vol 17, No. 7, pp 17-23
TABLE I. TYPICAL DATA OF OILFIELD TESTS
Scheme
Qi
m
3
/h
pi
MPa
pd
MPa
n
r/min
Ci
mg/l
Cd
mg/l
E
%
1
3
3.4
3
0.15
0.15
0.15
0.10
0.10
0.10
1740
1740
1740
19643
4085
2705
303
348
189
98.5
91.5
93.1
2
4
5
0.28
0.32
0.17
0.21
1740
2610
3500
3008
954
898
72.7
70.1
96
97
98
99
100
2 4 6 8 10 12
Qi (m
3
/h)
E
(
%
)
1.0 m
1.5 m
Scheme 2
Scheme 1
FWKO
Hydrocyclone
Water
(underflow)
Oil
(overflow)
PCP
2727