Numerical simulation on cascaded gas-liquid cyclone separator

Key words:  gas-liquid separation  numerical simulation  flow field distribution  separation performance

Abstract:

A novel cascaded gas-liquid cyclone separator was proposed for deliquefication and purification of natural gases. The Reynolds stress model (RSM), the Eulerian wall film (EWF) model, and the discrete phase model (DPM) were used to simulate the internal flow field, the liquid film distribution, and the gas-liquid two-phase flow of the cyclone. Then the effect of some structural parameters on the flow field and the separation performance was investigated. The results show that the flow field distribution of the cyclone is beneficial to the separation of gas-liquid two-phase. In order to make the liquid collected in the secondary separation space descend smoothly, inlet velocity should not be too big. The upper half length of the primary exhaust pipe is 140 mm and the opening height is 60 mm, which corresponds to the best separation efficiency. Both of them have a small influence on the pressure drop. Reducing the width of the liquid descending gap will increase the separation efficiency and the pressure drop.