Separation performance of hydrocyclone oil removal device influenced by oil droplet trajectory and oil drop characteristics

Cyclone separation is an effective method for the treatment of oily wastewater from offshore oil production platforms. There is a lack of research on the impact of dispersion on the separation efficiency of current liquid-liquid separation hydrocyclones. A numerical simulation method was used to study the effect of the oil droplet characteristic parameters on the separation efficiency of a hydrocyclone oil removal device. An analysis of the trajectory of oil droplets revealed the oil removal mechanism of the hydrocyclone oil removal device: under the guidance of tangential velocity, the oil-water mixed fluid in the equipment generates different centrifugal forces due to the density difference, so oil and water adopt different flow paths to flow out. The effects of the particle diameter, velocity, and concentration of the inlet oil droplet on the separation efficiency were investigated. The droplet size had a positive effect on the separation efficiency, the oil concentration had a negative effect on the separation efficiency, and the speed of the oil drop was directly proportional to the separation efficiency within a certain range. These studies improved the basis for the efficient application of hydrocyclone oil removal devices.

Automated summary

Cyclone separation is an effective method for treating offshore oil production platform's oily wastewater. However, there is limited research on the impact of dispersion on the separation efficiency of liquid-liquid separation hydrocyclones. This study used numerical simulation to investigate the influence of oil droplet characteristics on the efficiency of a hydrocyclone oil removal device. The analysis revealed the oil removal mechanism, where oil and water take different flow paths under the guidance of tangential velocity. The results showed that droplet size had a positive impact on separation efficiency, oil concentration had a negative impact, and oil droplet velocity was directly proportional to efficiency within a certain range. These findings contribute to the efficient application of hydrocyclone oil removal devices.