CATEGORY: CRUDE OIL BLENDING
C.T.F
Cienc. Tecnol. Futuro vol.5 no.2 Bucaramanga Jan./June 2013
CFD Simulation Of Crude Oil Homogenization In
Pilot Plant Scale
Jesús-Alberto
Castro-Gualdrón (1), Leonel-Andrés Abreu-Mora (1) and Fabián-Andrey Díaz-Mateus
(2)
jesus.castro@ecopetrol.com.co
fabiandiazmateus@hotmail.com
1 Ecopetrol S.A. -Instituto Colombiano del Petróleo (ICP), A.A. 4185
Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia
2 Ambiocoop Ltda. Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia
ABSTRACT
The homogenization of different crude oils in a
pilot plant tank is simulated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
commercial code. The models are inherently transient since all simulations
start from a time zero where the crudes are completely separated to a final
time of full homogenization. The tank is agitated with a small impeller and a
two-phase model is used in the simulations in order to see the mixing process
and calculate the properties of the blend based on the volume fractions. The
effect of the mesh size and time step size are studied since in this type of
simulations the computational effort becomes a major parameter and has to be
reduced to a minimum.
Experimental
data taken from two different points in the tank at regular time intervals are
available to compare the results of the simulations, concluding in good
agreement.
Introduction
In this work the term blend refers to the mixture of hydrocarbons with
different properties. The accurate calculation of blend properties is very
important in industrial hydrocarbon applications where certain parameter must
be assured such as a specific value of viscosity or density. It is well known
that the calculation of blend properties is not straightforward and different
methods are available in the literature to calculate densities or viscosities
of mixtures. In this work, different methods will be analyzed and a multiphase
model for miscible fluids is used in the CFD code where each hydrocarbon
corresponds to a liquid phase in the multiphase model.
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