Creation of temperature inhomogenities with the use of Peltier element for the mass-exchange processes intensification of the oil and gas industry

Abstract

The intensification of technological processes in the oil and gas industry is an urgent task for industrial production. Improving the efficiency of the processes leads to a decrease in the consumption of materials by the apparatus and the cost of their manufacture, an improvement in the quality of the produced product, and simplifies the transportation and installation of equipment. To achieve these goals, a new highly efficient equipment is being developed based on the use of various physical and chemical phenomena, their combinations, and new technological approaches. One of the most effective ways to solve such problems is pulse impact on the materials being processed, in which inhomogeneities of the process driving force are artificially created. The challenge of intensifying the processes occurring during the direct contact of the phases is the need to influence the system being processed locally - in the area of the interface, since it is there that the substances transfer from one phase to another. The object of article's scientific research – mass-exchange process, which is most widespread in oil and gas technology. As a model, the process of liquid evaporation is chosen, on which the separation of mixtures by rectification is based – the main process of the oil and gas processing industry. The heterogeneity of the driving force of the mass transfer process was created using a thermoelectric converter, the principle of which is based on the Peltier effect, in a series of experiments. Such converters allow creation of higher temperature gradient and, consequently, a greater temperature heterogeneity in the investigated system compared with traditional resistance electric heaters at the same energy expenditure. The article discusses the influence of the temperature inhomogenities location on the efficiency of mass-exchange processes, specifically the evaporation process. In experimental studies, the evaporation rate was estimated by measuring the mass evaporation velocity of a liquid. It is noted that the creation of a temperature gradient on the free surface of the liquid phase using a Peltier element with a specific power of 1.8 kW/m² leads to a twofold intensification of the evaporation process.