Separation of Oil-Water Emulsion in Laboratory Setup with U-Shaped Elements

Abstract

This study considers the problem of separation of oil-water emulsion in the case of oil spills. The standard methods of separation of the emulsion were presented. A unit with U-shaped separation elements has been developed. The device's operating principle was described, in which the separation of the oil-water emulsion occurs mainly due to the action of centrifugal forces arising from flow motion between the U-shaped elements and gravitational forces. The laboratory setup used for experiments was presented. The aim was to study the separation process of oil-water emulsion in a setup under varying initial temperature and initial density of the emulsion. The results showed that the device can separate the oil-water emulsion into light and heavy phases with an efficiency of at least 93.4% at a velocity of 1.39–2.15 m/s in narrow sections between the U-shaped elements. One way of improving the separation of the oil-water emulsion is to increase the working temperature. It was found that the increased efficiency of 2.5% indicates that device applicability caused the presence and availability of heating devices. As the crude oil content in the feed increases, it is necessary to increase the number of rows of U-shaped elements or repeat the process.