Estudo numérico e experimental da mistura de MEG em água em um canal confinado

Abstract

The offshore oil extraction has been working progressively into deep water region, which have favorable conditions for crystallin solids formation called hydrates, constituting not only economic and environmental issues, but also of safety ones. Therefore, it is sought to avoid its formation, being one way the use of thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors, ethylene glycol in specific. In this sense, the present work aims to make a comparison between the numerical and experimental analysis of the mixing of miscible fluids, MEG and water. In general, the study consists in mixing, inside a confined geometry initially filled with tap water, a second liquid miscible in water, ethylene glycol (MEG), under different rates and total volume of injection, analyzing during the process the mixing evolution for the secondary fluid into the primary one, being used, to this end, a confined quasi 2D geometry. Numerically, the problem is solved by the Finite Volumes Method through the concept of variable composition fluid, with the commercial software ANSYS® CFX®. The numerical results obtained were compared to the experimental ones, however the creation of a numerical model which could represent satisfactorily the results obtained experimentally was not possible. By the end it is emphasized the importance of a study using different diffusivity correlations.