CFD invesitigation of flow separation in a horizontal separator equipped with in inlet diverter

• Main Author: Farid Adam Bin Mohd Irwan
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: CFD; FLOW Separation; Inlet Diverter

Inlet diverters are essential for the primary separation of incoming crude oil and natural gas from the reservoir in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry. Primary separation of these components is crucial to avoid damage to the equipment. For example, liquid should not be present within the gas pipeline as the presence of liquid will corrode the equipment along the gas pipeline. The inlet diverters utilize the momentum mechanism which abruptly changes the velocity and direction of the incoming mixture and due to their density differences, the components are then separated according to their phases. Once separated, these components are then expelled through the liquid and gas pipelines accordingly. This project is aimed to conduct a CFD simulation and flow behavior study of a multiphase and multicomponent flow which is governed by a mixture of liquid water and fuel-oil-vapor (methane gas) within a two-phase horizontal separator vessel which is equipped with an inlet diverter. Moreover, the project is also aimed to investigate the effects of the inlet diverter’s placement and length on the separation efficiency of each fluid component within the separator vessel. The objectives of this project have achieved by using the ANSYS Fluent software. It is found that the configuration of the inlet diverter will affect the separation efficiency of the components. Moreover, within the same configuration of the inlet diverter, it is found that the separation efficiency of one component may be higher than the other component. Thus, suggesting that depending on the composition of the incoming crude oil or natural gas, may it be a gas-producing field or an oilproducing field, one may consider the outcome of this project a benchmark for considering the optimal configuration of an inlet diverter to increase production and