Multiphase Flow Analysis Conducted on a Small-Scale Sand Separator
Date
2019-09-24
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University of Calgary
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to experimentally validate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) performed on a small-scale sand separator, referred to in this document as a ‘desander’, as part of a PhD Thesis. The design of the original desander that is used by Specialized Desanders Inc. is meant to separate sand from a four-phase system consisting of frac sand, air, water and oil. As part of a PhD thesis, CFD analysis is to be performed on a small-scale prototype. Initially, a two-phase air-water system was analyzed in order to study the behavior of water prior to the addition of sand. Then, frac sand was systematically added to study the sand bank evolution. The main areas that were explored in this project are key quantitative information which can be used to validate a CFD model. They are (i) the velocity field of water at the inlet and weir locations, (ii) characterization of the air-water interface wave frequency and amplitude, and (iii) the three-dimensional settling behavior of sand as well as the transient development of the sand bank when sand is injected at a controlled rate into the air-water system.
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Citation
Manohar, K. H. (2018). Multiphase Flow Analysis Conducted on a SmallScale Sand Separator (Rep.). Calgary, AB: University of Calgary.