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<p>Efficient oil–water separation in three-phase separators heavily depends on the performance of internal corrugated coalescing plates. To analyse the flow characteristics of oil–water mixtures inside corrugated plates, it is important to address a key gap in the literature: existing studies rarely consider the impact of multi-scale oil droplet coalescence and breakup on the distribution of the oil phase within corrugated plate channels. This study employs a Population Balance Model (PBM) coupled with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to investigate oil droplet flow characteristics within the inter- plate domain of inverted V-shaped corrugated plates under different inlet velocities. It also evaluates the advantages of the coupled approach over the conventional model. Results show that, compared with the conventional CFD model in which oil droplets are assumed to have a fixed size, the CFD–PBM coupled approach can explicitly capture the dynamic evolution of oil droplets caused by coalescence and breakup, leading to notable changes in droplet size evolution, oil-phase aggregation near wave crests, and the spatial extent of oil-rich regions. The corrugated geometry induces periodic contraction–expansion flow, creating high-shear coalescence zones and low-velocity oil accumulation regions. At a low inlet velocity of 0.005&#xa0;m/s, a stable oil-rich layer forms near the wave crests, where the oil volume fraction reaches up to 0.92, and droplets with diameters of 180–200&#xa0;μm account for approximately 58.7% of the local population. A bidirectional coupling mechanism is identified, in which shear promotes oil droplet coalescence, while larger droplets feed back to slow the local flow and reinforce oil enrichment. Inlet velocity largely influences oil droplet dynamics: increasing velocity shortens residence time, intensifies turbulence, suppresses coalescence, and reduces outlet droplet size. As inlet velocity increases from 0.005 to 0.10&#xa0;m/s, the median droplet diameter at the outlet decreases from roughly 190&#xa0;μm to 90&#xa0;μm, indicating a transition from coalescence-dominated to breakup-dominated behavior. An optimal inlet velocity range of 0.005–0.05&#xa0;m/s is identified to balance separation efficiency and processing capacity. This study offers theoretical support for optimizing coalescing-plate structures in three-phase separators.</p>

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CFD-PBM Coupling: Oil Droplet Dynamics in Inverted V-Shaped Plates and Separation Coupling Mechanism

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月7日

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  • Shuai Zhang,
  • Yan Xu,
  • Zhong Yin,
  • Yuejuan Yan,
  • Sen Li,
  • Jinglong Zhang,
  • Jiaxiang Wang

摘要

Efficient oil–water separation in three-phase separators heavily depends on the performance of internal corrugated coalescing plates. To analyse the flow characteristics of oil–water mixtures inside corrugated plates, it is important to address a key gap in the literature: existing studies rarely consider the impact of multi-scale oil droplet coalescence and breakup on the distribution of the oil phase within corrugated plate channels. This study employs a Population Balance Model (PBM) coupled with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to investigate oil droplet flow characteristics within the inter- plate domain of inverted V-shaped corrugated plates under different inlet velocities. It also evaluates the advantages of the coupled approach over the conventional model. Results show that, compared with the conventional CFD model in which oil droplets are assumed to have a fixed size, the CFD–PBM coupled approach can explicitly capture the dynamic evolution of oil droplets caused by coalescence and breakup, leading to notable changes in droplet size evolution, oil-phase aggregation near wave crests, and the spatial extent of oil-rich regions. The corrugated geometry induces periodic contraction–expansion flow, creating high-shear coalescence zones and low-velocity oil accumulation regions. At a low inlet velocity of 0.005 m/s, a stable oil-rich layer forms near the wave crests, where the oil volume fraction reaches up to 0.92, and droplets with diameters of 180–200 μm account for approximately 58.7% of the local population. A bidirectional coupling mechanism is identified, in which shear promotes oil droplet coalescence, while larger droplets feed back to slow the local flow and reinforce oil enrichment. Inlet velocity largely influences oil droplet dynamics: increasing velocity shortens residence time, intensifies turbulence, suppresses coalescence, and reduces outlet droplet size. As inlet velocity increases from 0.005 to 0.10 m/s, the median droplet diameter at the outlet decreases from roughly 190 μm to 90 μm, indicating a transition from coalescence-dominated to breakup-dominated behavior. An optimal inlet velocity range of 0.005–0.05 m/s is identified to balance separation efficiency and processing capacity. This study offers theoretical support for optimizing coalescing-plate structures in three-phase separators.