Effects of Design Parameters on the Performance of Multiphase Separator for Energy Plant

Oil sands, one of the unconventional energy resources, are found in relatively deeper layers than other resources. Therefore, oil sands are generally extracted by steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), which is an underground recovery method in which high-temperature steam is injected together with organic solvent. In this process, a free-water knockout (FWKO) is necessary to process the large amounts of water used, and this oil-water separator separates two-phase or multiphase working fluids so that the next process can be performed. In this study, the effects of various design factors of the oil-water separator (the main process unit of the oil sand plant) on the separation performance were investigated numerically. Using the pseudo-transient method which is based on the finite volume method, the effects of the vane distributor, cyclone separator, and modularization on the separation performance were analyzed.