Numerical modeling of the ultrasonic waves effect on demulsification of oil-in-water emulsion system

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Chemical, Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Shiraz University of Technology, Shiraz, IRAN

2 Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz

10.22034/ijche.2023.402142.1324

Abstract

Dispersed phase droplets recovery from an emulsion is widely used in various processes such as treating host liquids and collecting dispersed droplets. This article investigates the effect of ultrasonic waves on the demulsification of the oil-in-water system. Then a mathematical model was proposed to predict the number and size of dispersed phase droplets. The population balance integral equation terms were simplified using the Fixed Pivot method and the resulting ODE set was solved by applying MATLAB Software. Using the ultrasonic collision frequency effect, the oil droplets volumetric distribution profile in 1 and 3 minutes was studied. In addition, the average droplet diameter D4,3 and the total volume of dispersed phase at 1 min. and 3 min. were reported and the model prediction was compared with experimental data. The average droplet diameter showed that under the ultrasonic waves effect, the average diameter of the drops increased by more than 50% in 3 minutes. Also, the total volume of dispersed phase results indicates that the total volume of oil droplets (due to the lack of phase separation) remains constant for 3 minutes. This result proves the correctness of the newly developed mathematical model.

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Iranian Chemical Engineering Journal

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 18 November 2023

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