Numerical Simulation Study on a New Spiral Gas-Liquid Cyclone Separator

In order to study the gas-liquid separation performance of gas-liquid cyclone separators and solve the problem of pump gas lock caused by potential high gas content in produced oil and gas fluid,a new type of spiral gas-liquid separator was designed based on the cyclone separation theory,and the internal flow field was studied under different gas-liquid ratios. The study results show that as the diversion ratio increases,the gas concentration near the inner wall and underflow outlet of the cyclone significantly decreases,the overflow pressure loss of the cyclone gradually increases,while the underflow pressure loss gradually decreases,and the rate of increase in overflow pressure loss is basically the same as the rate of decrease in underflow pressure loss. The increase in the diversion ratio gradually improves the degassing efficiency of the gas-liquid separator,and the gas volume fraction of underflow gradually decreases. Under working conditions of 1:1,1:2,1:5 and 1:8 gas-liquid ratios,the optimal overflow diversion ratios are 58%,39%,22% and 15% respectively. The study results provide a basis for the design of downhole gas-liquid separation devices for high gas content oil wells,and also provide guidance for field applications and operations.