ScholarWorks@성균관대학교

초록

The Free Water Knock Out (FWKO) vessel is a critical device in the oil sands treatment process, responsible for separating water, oil, and gas. This study investigates the gas-oil interface within the FWKO and analyzes the flow characteristics of the unresolved mixture near the interface. To enhance the separation efficiency by increasing the residence time of the mixture, a concave-shaped weir was introduced. Numerical simulations were conducted using ANSYS Fluent 2023 R1, applying the Volume of Fluid (VOF) model to capture the multiphase flow behavior. Optimization was performed using a genetic algorithm, and the optimal weir curvature with a minor radius of 0.017333 m and a major radius of 0.19032 m yielded the highest separation efficiency. The model incorporating the optimized weir demonstrated a 1.26% improvement in separation efficiency compared to the reference model, and a 2.13% improvement over the baseline model without curvature. These findings confirm that applying curvature to the traditionally flat weir can achieve higher separation efficiency. Moreover, improving separation efficiency through such a simple geometric modification demonstrates significant economic effectiveness.

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