Abstract:

To achieve the best separation effect and oil phase collection efficiency, a self-induced vortex oil collector was designed to collect residual oil from the turbulent sea. The inlet flow angle and suction pipe insertion depth of the device were adjusted and optimized via numerical simulation calculations. By comparing the volume of oil phase remaining inside the device in the same operation time, we concluded that at an inlet flow angle of 20° and a suction pipe insertion depth of h/3, the device could maintain a high oil phase separation efficiency, suppress oil-water mixing, and reduce oil-water interface diffusion and impurities. After determining the optimal structure, we analyzed the oil removal effect of the device in different water surface environments by changing its inlet flow velocity. The higher the inlet flow velocity, the higher the performance of the device for collecting the oil phase and better its oil removal effect. In addition, the entire oil collection process occurs inside the device without being affected by the external environment, suggesting that the device can collect oil from complex water surface environments. Moreover, the main body of the device has no moving parts, hence, it relies solely on the baffle to guide the swirl for collecting the oil phase.

Key words: oil separation, induced vortex, parameter optimization, numerical simulation, oil phase distribution