CFD study of the gas carry-under in a gas-liquid compact cyclone (GLCC TM) separator using a mixture model

Abstract

A three‐dimensional CFD study of the two‐phase flow field in a Gas‐Liquid Cylindrical Cyclone (GLCC) using the finite volume‐based finite element method is presented. The numerical analysis was made for air‐water mixtures at near atmospheric conditions, while both liquid and gas flow rates were changed. The two‐phase flow behavior is modeled using an Eulerian‐Eulerian approach, considering both phases as an interpenetrating continuum. This method computed the inter‐phase phenomena by including a source term in the momentum equation to consider the drag between the liquid and gas phases. The gas‐liquid flow is modeled using an inhomogeneous mixture model, in order to capture the interfacial effects associated to the general complex interfacial boundaries. Results are compared to experiments and to results from a bi‐modal inhomogeneous particle model. The CFD technique here proposed, demonstrates to satisfactorily reproduce important features not easily depicted in experiments and not computed when using the particle model. Results show phase distributions and velocity profiles inside the GLCC, as well as the computed gas carry‐under for different operating conditions.