Overview on Oil/Water Separation Techniques and Working Principles

Investigation of the Microscopic Process of the Media Coalescence Treatment of Water-in-Oil Emulsion

“…The VOF method implements phase interface tracing by defining a volume function F(Ω, t) (Ω is the computational grid cell), with F(Ω, t) representing the volume fraction occupied by the fluid in the grid cell, i.e., (5) 0 < F(Ω, t) < 1, Ω across the interface between oil and water phases.…”

“…Water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions are ubiquitous in oil exploitation and processing. − Water in oil causes serious harm, such as a reduction in the viscosity of lubricating oil, resulting in lubrication shortage; moreover, it causes equipment metal parts to rust, seriously shortening the service life of the equipment. − Therefore, it is necessary to remove the water present in the oil. However, water-in-oil emulsion usually has strong interface stability characteristics, causing dehydration problems. , Commonly used oil dehydration methods include gravity sedimentation, chemical demulsification, vacuum dehydration, centrifugal separation, and electric field dehydration. ,− However, these methods have many disadvantages, such as high energy consumption (electric field and vacuum dehydration), secondary pollution (chemical demulsification), and low efficiency (centrifugal separation and gravity sedimentation). − In recent years, media coalescence technology has attracted wide attention from domestic and foreign scholars owing to its advantages of high efficiency, being environmentally friendly, and low energy consumption …”

“…Water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions are ubiquitous in oil exploitation and processing. 1 − 5 Water in oil causes serious harm, such as a reduction in the viscosity of lubricating oil, resulting in lubrication shortage; moreover, it causes equipment metal parts to rust, seriously shortening the service life of the equipment. 6 − 8 Therefore, it is necessary to remove the water present in the oil.…”