Computational Fluid Dynamics Applied to Jet Pumps

M. C. Pedroso¹; A. C. Bannwart²; R. E. M. Morales³; E. F. Caetano¹

¹ Petrobras; ² Unicamp; ³ UTFPR

doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-2030

Resumo

Abstract. This article presents a two-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) study applied to a set of sixteen different geometries of jet pumps, where water is the power fluid (primary) and also the moved fluid (secondary), which is commonly called liquid Jet Liquid Pump (LJL). The numerical CFD methodology of analysis was validated by experimental data from the literature, revealing good agreement between CFD and experimental results, with a deviation of less than 5% for the pump capacity ratio at the maximum efficiency spot. The CFD study, for the proposed geometries, allowed knowing the influence on pump efficiency of the typical design parameters (1) nozzle-to-throat area ratio and, (2) the throat length. The results showed that the (1) nozzle-to-throat area ratio strongly defines the pumping mass range capacity, while the optimization of (2), the throat length, considerably defines the pump efficiency. The good results obtained with the developed methodology, when applied to water jet pumps, seem to indicate that such methodology might as well be potentially applied to jet pumps where the primary fluid is a liquid hydrocarbon and the secondary a gas and/or a gas-liquid hydrocarbon mixture - provided that proper modelling treatment for those particular types of fluids and flows be incorporated into the methodology.

Palavras-chave: Jet Pump; Hydraulic Jet Pump; Ejector; Liquid Jet Liquid; Artificial Lift