COALESCER BED MODELING TO MIXTURE OIL/WATER: TREATMENT USING ANSYS CFX

Abstract

Produced water is one of the greatest concerns in oil industry due to the quantities of this effluent produced and the negative environmental impacts that it can cause. Based on these considerations and on the difficulty in removing emulsified oil in water, the study of methods to treat this effluent becomes of great relevance. The use of computational fluid dynamics is an alternative to solve this problem for the economical and time advantages it presents, and the possibility of achieving reliable results. This paper studies the use of a coalescer bed to treat oil/water mixture behavior. Results of droplets distribution, size, oil flow, and fluid dynamics equipment behaviour are analyzed and discussed.