Numerical Simulation of Effects of Steady Flow Component on Flow Field of Gravitational Oil-water Separators

The realizable k-e model and the multiphase mixture model of Fluent software are used to simulate flow field of gravitational oil-water separators.The distribution of flow field in the separator with three different flow regulating components is obtained.Flow field and separation characteristics of separators with different components are analyzed and compared.The results show that flow of oil-water two-phase in the separator can be simulated well with this method.Square orifice plate restrains back-mixing flow in separation space effectively.Improved square orifice plate has better flow and separation characteristics than the previous one.Valuable guidance can be provided by the method of numerical simulation for steady flow component optimization.