Crude Oil Dehydration Experiment and Numerical Simulation Study under the Action of High⁃Frequency Electric Field

doi:10.12422/j.issn.1672-6952.2025.01.007

Abstract

Abstract:

Dehydration of crude oil is an important step in the production and processing of crude oil. As oil fields enter the high water cut stage of production and the addition of oil recovery additives, dehydration becomes increasingly difficult, so the use of high?frequency electric fields for electric demulsification has become an effective means of dehydration. This article investigates the mechanism of electric dehydration under high?frequency electric field through static dehydration experiments and numerical simulations of droplet electric coalescence. It is found that the electric field strength, frequency, and duration have significant impacts on dehydration efficiency when treating crude oil with electric demulsification and dehydration. In the process of electric demulsification and dehydration, there is an optimal electric field frequency. After the electric field strength increases to a certain value, continuing to increase the electric field strength will actually lead to an increase in water content. After the electric field action reaches a certain time, continuing to increase the electric field action time will result in little change in the water content of crude oil; the greater the electric field strength applied to droplets in the electric field, the more likely the droplets are to deform, and the larger the diameter of the droplets, the more likely they are to deform; compared with the power frequency electric field, droplet coalescence efficiency is higher under high?frequency electric field, and droplets are more prone to coalescence. The research results provide theoretical support for the design and parameter optimization of crude oil electric dehydration units.

Key words: Electric demulsification and dehydration, Static experiments, Water content, Numerical simulation

摘要：

原油脱水是原油生产加工过程的重要环节。随着油田进入高含水期开采阶段以及采油助剂的添加，原油脱水难度越来越大，采用高频电场对其进行电破乳成为一种脱水的有效手段。通过静态脱水实验和液滴电聚结数值模拟研究了高频电场作用下电脱水机理。结果表明，采用电破乳方法处理原油时，电场强度、电场频率和电场作用时间对脱水效率有显著影响；在电破乳脱水过程中，存在最佳的电场频率，电场强度增加到一定数值后，继续增加电场强度，含水率反而会上升，而电场作用一定时间后，继续增加电场作用时间，原油含水率变化不大；对电场中的液滴施加的电场强度越大，液滴越易发生形变，液滴的直径越大越易发生形变；与工频电场相比，在高频电场下，液滴聚结效率高，液滴比较容易发生聚并。研究结果为原油电脱水装置的设计与参数优化提供了理论支持。

关键词: 电破乳脱水, 静态实验, 含水率, 数值模拟

CLC Number:

Yejun GENG, Jue WANG, Yue YU, Li SONG, Donghai YANG, Qisen JING. Crude Oil Dehydration Experiment and Numerical Simulation Study under the Action of High⁃Frequency Electric Field[J]. Journal of Liaoning Petrochemical University, 2025, 45(1): 50-58.

耿业军, 王珏, 于越, 宋莉, 杨东海, 荆其森. 高频电场作用下原油脱水实验及数值模拟研究[J]. 辽宁石油化工大学学报, 2025, 45(1): 50-58.

Figures/Tables 13

Fig.1 Horizontal electrode type sample slot

Table 1 The mass fraction of four components and wax in crude oil

组分	w/%
饱和分	49.13
芳香分	18.24
胶质	14.04
沥青质	0.23
蜡	14.07

Fig.3 The relationship curves of density, viscosity and interfacial tension with temperature

Fig.5 Dehydration efficiency of the emulsion under different electric field frequencies

Fig.6 Dehydration efficiency of the emulsion under different electric field strength

Fig.7 Different behaviors of droplet pairs in the electrostatic coalescence process

Fig.8 Dehydration efficiency of the emulsion under different electric field application times

Fig.9 Two?dimensional geometric simulation model of droplets in an electric field

Fig.10 Four different specifications of independence verification grids

Fig.11 Variation of single droplet deformation with time at different mesh sizes

Fig.12 Simulation results of model and experimental results

Fig.13 The change curve between droplet deformation and electric field strength

Fig.15 The coalescence process of droplets under different electric field strengths

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