CFD simulation of mixing process in a large crude oil storage tank with side-entry impellers

Abstract

This work presents the study of the flow distribution in a crude oil storage tank of 36.5 m of diameter. The tank is equipped with two side-entry impellers placed at 90 degrees and 45 degrees mounting angle. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to simulate the tank conditions with 7.7 m of filling level. In addition, it is performed a homogenization time analysis of two different crude oils, for the case of mounting angle of 45 degrees. A two-phase model (Volume of fluid, VOF) is used to simulate the mixing process. The rotation of the impellers is modeling by Multiple Frames of Reference (MFR). The phenomenon is resolved using the RNG version of the k-epsilon turbulence model.