Design Methodology for a Low-Shear Rotating Swirler

The tubular dynamic hydrocyclone (TDH) holds great potential for the pre-deoiling of offshore oil platforms. However, the shear and turbulence in the flow field can cause the oil droplets, the dispersed phase in water, to break up when the swirling flow is produced by the swirler. A design method is proposed for the low-shear rotary swirler (LSRS) of TDH, the aim of which is to reduce the shear force and local turbulence during the fluid forming swirling flow. The blade setting angle of the LSRS is calculated based on the relative velocity vector between the fluid and the swirler. The distribution characteristics of the tangential velocity and turbulence in the TDH with LSRS are simulated by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The maximum stable droplet diameter is analyzed. The results show that the shear stress and turbulence energy dissipation rates are reduced by 74.6% and 68.5%, respectively, and that the stable droplet diameter is increased by more than 60%, compared to the conventional rotating swirler. In addition, a TDH prototype with LSRS was tested in an offshore oil field by continuous operation for more than 36 h. The average separation efficiency was 83%, and the average underflow oil concentration was 27 mg/L. The research also found that the drastic changes in the tangential velocity along the axial direction were critical to shear. Moreover, the results make up for the deficiency of the spatial variation of the tangential velocity in the dynamic cyclone separator.