Experimental modeling of a deoiling hydrocyclone system

Hydrocyclones used in offshore oil & gas industries utilizes pressure difference ratio (PDR) control to maintain efficient oil and water separation. This separation will reduce the concentration of oil in the effluent water to fulfill the environmental safety limits of low oil concentrations. This limitation causes the optimization of the separation process to be an important research. As oscillating flow affects the hydrocyclones performance, it is important to identify the dynamic model of the hydrocyclones to possibly optimize and improve the current PDR control solution. An in-house developed acrylic hydrocyclone was tested as proof of concept for obtaining its steady-state and dynamic performances. The steady-state performance is able to provide the proportional correlation between PDR and flow split which is essential for optimizing steady-state separation efficiency. By analyzing step responses of PDR via dedicated experiments a set of first-order-plus-dead-time (FOPDT) models that represent the main characteristics of the concerned hydrocyclone system is developed and analyzed for the entire operating range. The obtained multiple FOPDT models can illustrate the system performance in a quite reasonable manner. Second-order models were identified to represent the overshoot and oscillation properties of the hydrocyclone.