Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of Gas–Liquid Cylindrical Cyclones, Geometrical Analysis

Abstract

The gas–liquid cylindrical cyclone (GLCC) is a widely used alternative for gas–liquid conventional separation. Besides its maturity, the effect of some geometrical parameters over its performance is not fully understood. The main objective of this study is to use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling in order to evaluate the effect of geometrical modifications in the reduction of liquid carry over (LCO) and gas carry under (GCU). Simulations for two-phase flow were carried out under zero net liquid flow, and the average liquid holdup was compared with Kanshio (Kanshio, S., 2015, “Multiphase Flow in Pipe Cyclonic Separator,” Ph.D. thesis, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK) obtaining root-mean-square errors around 13% between CFD and experimental data. An experimental setup, in which LCO data were acquired, was built in order to validate a CFD model that includes both phases entering to the GLCC. An average discrepancy below 6% was obtained by comparing simulations with experimental data. Once the model was validated, five geometrical variables were tested with CFD. The considered variables correspond to the inlet configuration (location and inclination angle), the effect of dual inlet, and nozzle geometry (diameter and area reduction). Based on the results, the best configuration corresponds to an angle of 27 deg, inlet location 10 cm above the center, a dual inlet with 20 cm of spacing between both legs, a nozzle of 3.5 cm of diameter, and a volute inlet of 15% of pipe area. The combination of these options in the same geometry reduced LCO by 98% with respect to the original case of the experimental setup. Finally, the swirling decay was studied with CFD showing that liquid has a greater impact than the gas flowrate.