Zhao Shuai, Yamei Zhang, Yan Liu, Daming Sun
Shandong Labor Vocational and Technical College, Jinan, 250300, China.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 23;15(1):18024. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-02197-3.
The hydrocyclone can achieve the separation of oil and water through a swirling centrifugal process based on the density difference between the two media. However, for a fixed hydrocyclone, both the concentration of the mixture and the process parameters are important factors that affect the separation efficiency. In this paper, we establish the Euler multiphase flow model via numerical simulation to study the influence of process parameters (e.g., overflow split ratio 0.08) on the separation performance of the finalized hydrocyclone, and investigate the effects of inlet flow rate and oil content on phase distribution, radial flow velocity, flow field properties, and other characteristics of the oil-water medium within the hydrocyclone. By constructing an experimental platform for oil-water cyclone separation, we explored the impact of inlet flow rate on separation efficiency for mixtures with oil contents ranging from 10-30%.The results show that after cyclone separation, the denser aqueous medium is primarily distributed on the outer side of the cyclone, exhibiting obvious wall attachment characteristics. It exits through the underflow port, with its volume fraction gradually increasing as it moves toward the outer conical section. The lower-density oil phase is concentrated near the cyclone's central axis and exits through the overflow port; the closer to the overflow port's central axis, the higher the oil phase volume fraction. When the oil content is 10%, the separation efficiency reaches 99.89%. However, as the inlet flow velocity increases from 1.0 m/s to 8.0 m/s, the underflow separation efficiency decreases from 99.89 to 96.11%. Additionally, as the oil content of the mixture increases, the hydrocyclone's separation efficiency declines. Notably, when the oil content exceeds 20%, increasing the inlet flow rate improves separation efficiency, rising from 85.35% at 2.0 m/s to 93.68% at 8.0 m/s.
水力旋流器可基于两种介质之间的密度差，通过旋转离心过程实现油水分离。然而，对于固定的水力旋流器，混合物浓度和工艺参数都是影响分离效率的重要因素。本文通过数值模拟建立欧拉多相流模型，研究工艺参数（如溢流分流比0.08）对定型水力旋流器分离性能的影响，并研究入口流速和含油率对水力旋流器内油水介质的相分布、径向流速、流场特性及其他特征的影响。通过搭建油水旋流器分离实验平台，探索了入口流速对含油率为10%-30%的混合物分离效率的影响。结果表明，旋流器分离后，密度较大的水相主要分布在旋流器外侧，呈现明显的壁面附着特征。它通过底流口排出，其体积分数在向外侧锥段移动时逐渐增加。密度较小的油相集中在旋流器中心轴附近，并通过溢流口排出；越靠近溢流口中心轴，油相体积分数越高。当含油率为10%时，分离效率达到99.89%。然而，随着入口流速从1.0 m/s增加到8.0 m/s，底流分离效率从99.89%降至96.11%。此外，随着混合物含油率的增加，水力旋流器的分离效率下降。值得注意的是，当含油率超过20%时，增加入口流速可提高分离效率，从2.0 m/s时的85.35%升至8.0 m/s时的93.68%。
