Exploration of oil-water separation model in corrugated plate coalescer

Abstract This study analyzes the corrugated plate coalescer in three-phase separators and explores the oil-water separation process from a microscopic perspective. The oil-water separation time in the coalescer is divided into three processes: oil droplet floating, oil droplet coalescence, and oil film stabilization. Mathematical models are established for each process to obtain the total oil-water separation time, providing a certain reference for engineering design. The three-phase separator plays an important role in petroleum extraction, not only achieving efficient separation of oil, gas, and water, but also having significant implications for improving resource utilization, reducing production costs, and mitigating safety risks.