Experimental and numerical study of separation characteristics in gas-liquid cylindrical cyclone

The separation characteristics of the gas-liquid cylindrical cyclone (GLCC) has been investigated by experiment and numerical analysis. The droplet size and phase distributions were measured using Malvern RTsizer and electrical resistivity tomography, respectively. The Discrete Phase Model was used to numerically analyze the swirling hydrodynamics. The results showed that the separator with strong swirl intensity would not necessarily get better separation performance, and the nozzle with Ne = 5.9 performed best. The small and medium droplets tended to initially coalesce and subsequently break up with increased gas superficial velocity, whereas they always tended to coalesce with increased liquid superficial velocity. ERT measurement results proved the existence of the flow reversal for the gas core. Finally, a droplet migration model was developed based on the force analysis of droplet and the swirling hydrodynamics, which accurately predicted the separation performance of GLCC. These results can be used in the design of the GLCC. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.