Performance evaluation of industrial large-scale cyclone separator with novel vortex finder

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study on an industrial large-scale tangential-inlet cyclone separator with a novel and easy-to-implement vortex finder. The vortex finder was designed with slots on the side wall to improve cyclone performance. The collection efficiency, pressure drop, and interior flow field were analyzed. The proposed device provides an effective gas flow pathway and a coupled swirl-inertia separation mechanism, which eliminates short circuit flows under the bottom inlet of the slotted vortex finder to reduce the swirling intensity and minimize the flow instability in the separator. The pressure drop was reduced up to 27.9% compared to the conventional separator and the maximal increase in collection efficiency was 5.45%. The results presented here may provide a workable reference regarding the effects of vortex finders on improving flow fields and corresponding performance in industrial large-scale cyclone separators.     

Effect of the inlet angle on the performance of a cyclone separator using CFD-DEM

Hydrodynamic characteristics in a cyclone separator are simulated by means of DEM-CFD. Reynolds stress turbulence model (RSM) is used to capture gas turbulence. By changing the inlet angle, the distributions of pressure drop, tangential and axial velocity of gas phase are obtained within the cyclone. Simulated results indicate that the flow pattern consists of two regions: loss-free vortex region and forced vortex region. The negative inlet angle brings about a larger pressure drop comparing to positive inlet angle. The separation efficiency and trajectory of particles from simulation are obtained. The effects of inlet angle and particle size on separation efficiency are quantified. The separation efficiency is increased with an increase of particle size, while the separation efficiency firstly increases and then declined as inlet angle changes from negative to positive. An agreement between the numerical simulation and experimental results has been achieved in a cyclone separator.     

Evaluation of natural gas dehydration in supersonic swirling separators applying the Discrete Particle Method

The natural gas flow fields and particles separation characteristics were numerically calculated with the RNG k ? ε turbulence model and Discrete Particle Method (DPM) in the supersonic swirling separator. An experimental system was set up for testing the separation efficiency of three new designed separators with wet air. The numerical results showed that the new annular nozzle not only expanded the natural gas to supersonic velocity with resulting in low temperature (?72 °C), but also strengthened the swirling flow with the centrifugal field of 640 000g (g is the acceleration of gravity), both of which created good conditions for natural gas dehydration. Under the strong swirling flow field, most particles collided with the walls or entered into the liquid-collection space directly, while only few particles escaped together with the gas flow. The separation efficiency reached over 95%, when the length of the cyclone separation section was about 10 times of the diameter of the wall at throat. The experimental results indicated that the water can be efficiently removed from the wet air. The numerical results were in good agreements with the experimental findings, which demonstrated that the Discrete Particle Method (DPM) was accurate and stable enough to evaluate the dehydration characteristics of the supersonic swirling separator.     

Comparison of separation performance between single and two inlets hydrocyclones

Experimental studies have been carried out about the particle separation performance of single and two inlets hydrocyclones. Two types of hydrocyclones having the same total inlet holes area were examined. Hydrocyclone A (with single inlet hole) and hydrocyclone B (with two inlet holes) were used. An aqueous slurry of silica particles (0.5 wt% with a median diameter of about 2.1 μm) was tested using a 20 mm-diameter hydrocyclone with a 15% underflow ratio. It was found that the optimum flow rate which gives the highest separation performance of the hydrocyclone B is the same flow rate for each inlet. Usage of the hydrocyclone B indicated smaller cut size and higher particle collection efficiency compared to that of the hydrocyclone A, under the same flow rate or same pressure drop conditions. The time of flight model was used to predict the 50% cut size diameter for single inlet hydrocyclone, and the model was modified to the two inlets hydrocyclone. It was found that the calculated results agree well with the experimental results for the hydrocyclone A, and for the hydrocyclone B under the low total flow rates conditions.     

Experimental investigation of processes in acoustic cyclone separator

This paper presents air flow velocity profiles obtained in conventional and acoustic cyclone separators. It is shown that vortex air flow is created in acoustical cyclone separator in presence of secondary countercurrent air flow. It is obtained that in acoustic cyclone separator air pressure pulses occur at frequency of 8 kHz and pressure amplitude reaches a value of 170 dB. Separation efficiency of acoustic cyclone separator was established experimentally.     

A numerical study on pressure drop and separation efficiency of a new swirl tube cleaner

In this paper, a new design of Swirl Tube Cleaner (STC) was introduced. The performance of an STC in terms of the separation efficiency and pressure drop was numerically investigated for different vane angles, vane lengths, and inlet velocities. The Reynolds stress turbulence model was used to detect the main flow structures of the highly swirling flow inside the STC. The discrete phase model that employs the Lagrangian frame of reference was utilized for particle tracking. The results are in good agreement with experimental data available in the literature. For all cases under investigation, the main flow characteristics of the STC consist of a hub vortex flow downstream of the back cone and tip vortices in the wake flow of the vanes. Around the initiation point of the vortex flow, the centrifugal accelerations are one order of magnitude higher than that of the upstream flow around vanes. The results show that the overall separation efficiency with the specified particle size distribution can reach 88% at a pressure drop lower than 250 [Pa] for the highest flow rate. Compared to traditional STCs, the new STC decreases the pressure drop by about 50% while enhancing overall separation efficiency by approximately 2%, considering the numerical accuracy.     

Gas-solid separation performance and structure optimization in 3D printed guide vane cyclone separator

Low separation efficiency and large pressure drop are two common problems of cyclones. In this paper, a 3D printed guide vane cyclone separator was designed to study the separation efficiency, turbulent kinetic energy, and particle movement of particle group by experiment and simulation. The results shown that the tangential velocity was the major influence of separating. The bottom of the exhaust pipe was the main region of gas–solid separation and pressure drop. The separation efficiency and pressure drop were positively correlated with the inlet velocity and the particle radius of the fluid. The distribution of turbulent kinetic energy that leaded to the pressure drop loss was concentrated on the inlet of the exhaust pipe. The swirl has external and internal two directions. The optimized cyclone has a longer and narrower blade flow path to obtain higher separation efficiency, especially at low inlet velocity.     

页岩灰与催化裂化催化剂细粉旋风分离性能的对比试验研究

试验测定和对比页岩灰和流化催化裂化三旋灰(FCC三旋灰)的旋风分离器性能,考察入口气速、入口浓度对分离效率和分离器压降的影响.结果表明,在相同操作条件下,同一台旋风分离器上,粒度小于75 μm的页岩灰与FCC三旋灰的分离效率和分离器压降曲线差别显著;页岩灰的分离效率与分离器压降都明显低于FCC三旋灰,且入口浓度增大,页岩灰分离器压降的下降幅度高于FCC三旋灰;页岩灰分离效率最高的入口气流速度也低于FCC三旋灰.颗粒特性对旋风分离器的分离性能有明显影响,页岩灰和三旋灰的颗粒特性与形状差别是导致其旋风分离特性不同的一个基本原因;油页岩旋风分离器的设计应当考虑油页岩颗粒特性的影响.     

循环流化床锅炉用旋风分离器性能的实验研究

结合水煤浆流化-悬浮燃烧的特点,通过全面测定循环流化床锅炉用旋风分离器在不同操作参数下的分离效率,研究了入口气速、入口颗粒浓度、入口颗粒物性等对旋风分离器的压降和分离性能的影响规律。实验结果表明,影响旋风分离器分离性能的主要物性参数是颗粒的中位粒径、密度,在入口颗粒的中位粒径相差较大时分离性能主要受粒径的影响,而当入口颗粒粒径相差较小时密度对分离器分离性能的影响则更为显著。     

Performance evaluation of a new micro gas cyclone using simulation and experimental studies to capture indoor fine particles

The aim of this study was evaluating a micro gas cyclone performance with a body diameter of 10?mm to collect indoor fine particles. The design of a cyclone requires minimizing the pressure drop and maximizing the separation efficiency. Overall and grade efficiencies, pressure drops, and cut sizes have been investigated through a theoretical model, simulation, and experimental studies. The experimental part was conducted using an Electrical Low-Pressure Impactor (ELPI) device to measure particle concentration for flow rates of 10–13.3 (l/min). In order to study the pressure drop and velocity behavior for different flow rates, COMSOL software was utilized. The obtained results from experimental work have met the theoretical and simulation outcomes adequately. It has been confirmed by all the obtained results that by increasing the flow rate and subsequently inlet velocity, the particle collection efficiency and pressure drop increase while the cut size decreases.     

Performance evaluation of a hydrocyclone with a spiral rib for separation of particles

Several design modifications have been done to improve particle separation efficiency in a hydrocyclone. The effects of a rib which is introduced into the cylindrical part of the hydrocyclone are discussed here. CFD (Computational fluid dynamics) is a useful tool to study the velocity and pressure distribution of complex turbulent flow in a hydrocyclone. Flow simulations are carried out using a three-dimensional double precision, segregated, steady-state solver tool. Reynolds stress model is employed for turbulent model which is suitable for the anisotropic turbulent flow. A comparison study for pressure drop and flow velocity for the conventional and ribbed hydrocyclone have done. The obtained CFD simulated results in correlation with experimental data shows that the pressure drop reduces by 13.9% at a velocity of 2.5 m/s by using rib. An experimental finding shows that the cut size particle diameter for conventional and ribbed hydrocyclone are 36 µm and 28 µm respectively at the velocity of 2.5 m/s.     

Exergy analysis and performance of a counter flow Ranque–Hilsch vortex tube having various nozzle numbers at different inlet pressures of oxygen and air

An experimental investigation is made to determine the effects of the orifice nozzle number and the inlet pressure on the heating and cooling performance of the counter flow Ranque–Hilsch vortex tube when air and oxygen used as a fluid. The orifices used at these experiments are made of the polyamide plastic material. The thermal conductivity of polyamide plastic material is 0.25 W/m °C. Five orifices with nozzle numbers of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 have been manufactured and used during the experiments. For each one of the orifices (nozzle numbers) when used with two different fluids, inlet pressures were adjusted from 150 kPa to 700 kPa with 50 kPa increments, and the exergy efficiency was determined. During the experiments, a vortex tube is used with an L/D ratio of 15, and cold mass fraction is held constant at 0.5. As a result of the experimental study, it is determined that the temperature gradient between the hot and cold fluid is decreased with increasing of the orifice nozzle number.     

Experimental investigation of two-phase flow characteristics of HFC-134a through short-tube orifices

The two-phase flow characteristics of HFC-134a, including flow pattern, mass flow rate, pressure distribution and temperature distribution through short-tube orifices are experimentally investigated. Short tube diameters ranging between 0.605 and 1.2 mm with length-to-diameter ratios ranging between 8.3 and 33 are used in the experiments. The test runs are performed at upstream pressure ranging between 900 and 1300 kPa, downstream pressure ranging between 300 and 400 kPa, and degree of subcooling ranging between 1 and 12 °C. Two groups of short-tube orifices are used in the experiment. The first is used to visualise the flow pattern. The second is used to measure temperature and pressure distributions along the tube. The results from the present experiment show that metastable flow and choked flow phenomena exist inside the short-tube orifices over the whole range of experimental conditions. The metastable liquid flow region increases with increasing degree of subcooling and upstream pressure. The mass flow rate is directly proportional to upstream pressure and degree of subcooling. The results of pressure distribution inside the short-tube orifices indicate that accelerational pressure drop at the inlet and outlet has a significant effect on the total pressure drop across the short-tube orifice.     

Experimental investigation and correlation of two-phase frictional pressure drop of R410A–oil mixture flow boiling in a 5 mm microfin tube

This study presents experimental two-phase frictional data for R410A-oil mixture flow boiling in an internal spiral grooved microfin tube with outside diameter of 5 mm. Experimental parameters include the evaporation temperature of 5 °C, the mass flux from 200 to 400 kg m^?2 s^?1, the heat flux from 7.46 to 14.92 kW m^?2, the inlet vapor quality from 0.1 to 0.8, and nominal oil concentration from 0 to 5%. The test results show that the frictional pressure drop of R410A initially increases with vapor quality and then decreases, presenting a local maximum in the vapor quality range between 0.7 and 0.8; the frictional pressure drop of R410A–oil mixture increases with the mass flux, the presence of oil enhances two-phase frictional pressure drop, and the effect of oil on frictional pressure drop is more evident at higher vapor qualities where the local oil concentrations are higher. The enhanced factor is always larger than unity and increases with nominal oil concentration at a given vapor quality. The range of the enhanced factor is about 1.0–2.2 at present test conditions. A new correlation to predict the local frictional pressure drop of R410A-oil mixture flow boiling inside the internal spiral grooved microfin tube is developed based on local properties of refrigerant–oil mixture, and the measured local frictional pressure drop is well correlated with the empirical equation proposed by the authors.     

出口结构对双蜗壳式旋风分离器内流场的影响

用智能七孔球探针测试仪对不同出口结构的双蜗壳式旋风分离器内不同位置的三维速度及压力进行测量,从而获得不同结构参数对流场的影响。实验结果表明,排尘锥结构具有一定的稳流作用,有利于分离器的分离;分流型芯管的开缝有分流的作用,降低了芯管内的气流旋转强度,使上下行流都有所减少,旋风管中心附近以及边壁附近的切向速度都有所减小;分流型芯管的特有的缩口结构使不同截面上的切向速度的最大值都有所增加,距离缩口越近增加越强烈。     

CFD simulation of a novel design of square cyclone with dual-inverse cone

The objective of the present study is to propose a novel design to improve the separation efficiency of the conventional square cyclone. For this purpose, the conical section of the conventional square cyclone with single-cone is modified to dual inverse-cone. In addition, the effect of second-cone length on the performance of cyclone is considered. A three-dimensional numerical simulation is done by solving the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) turbulence model and applying the Eulerian-Lagrangian two-phase method. The turbulent dispersion of particles is predicted by the application of the Discrete Random Walk (DRW) model. The numerical results demonstrate that dual inverse-cone square cyclone although produces higher pressure drop but its separation efficiency is higher than the square cyclone with single-cone. This is due to a smaller separation zone and shorter path of particle movements which force the particles exit from the outlet section of the cyclone. Finally, using dual-inverse cone square cyclone reduces the 50% cut size about 10% and 30% for inlet velocities of 12 m/s and 28 m/s, respectively.     

进气温度与压力对锥形涡流管性能的影响

以氮气为工质,对锥形涡流管能量分离特性进行了实验研究,结果表明入口气流温度对锥形涡流管的工作性能影响较小.进气压力越高,能量分离性能越强,不同压力下都在冷气流率约0.2时,可得到最大制冷效应和制冷效率,冷气流率约为0.5时,可获得最大制热效应.升高压力可提高锥形涡流管的能量分离性能,但提高幅度逐渐减小,当压力升高到一定...     

旋风分离器减阻杆对流场的影响

在研究发现旋风分离器减阻杆的基础上，研究了减阻杆对流场的影响，发现了减阻杆使切向速度分布趋于平缓、轴向速度上升峰值内移、径向上压力梯度减小、轴向上中心区从逆压梯度变为顺压梯度等重要规律，从而为分析旋风分离器减阻杆的减阻机理提供了依据。同时本文还首次发现旋风分离器入口附近有近２４％的短路流量，提出设法减小这部分短路流量是提高分离效率的一个研究方向。     

Experimental study on the separation performance of a novel gas–liquid separator

A novel two-stage dynamic separator called high-gravity cyclone separator (HGCS) has been designed for gas–liquid separation. It is mainly composed of a cyclone chamber and rotary drum. In this study, its performance, including the separation efficiency and pressure drop, is experimentally investigated, and the effects of the operating conditions and drum parameters are evaluated. For droplets with a mean diameter of 7 μm, the results indicate that the optimal gas inlet velocity and high-gravity factor are 12 m/s and 59.4, respectively, and the separation efficiency reaches 98 %. The effect of liquid concentration is sensitive to the high-gravity factor. At a liquid concentration of 57 g/m³, the maximum efficiency will be 98.75 % when increasing the high-gravity factor to 85.6. Furthermore, a smaller radial height is preferable when the gas inlet velocity is greater than 12 m/s, and a better separation efficiency can be obtained by increasing the drum length to 190 mm. However, when the length is 235 mm, the efficiency will be poor because of the Kelvin–Helmholtz and Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities. Compared with the predominant roles of gas inlet velocity, drum length and radial height in pressure drop, the effects of liquid concentration and high-gravity factor are small.     

Measurement and correlation of frictional pressure drop of refrigerant-based nanofluid flow boiling inside a horizontal smooth tube

The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of nanoparticle on the frictional pressure drop characteristics of refrigerant-based nanofluid flow boiling inside a horizontal smooth tube, and to present a correlation for predicting the frictional pressure drop of refrigerant-based nanofluid. R113 refrigerant and CuO nanoparticle were used for preparing refrigerant-based nanofluid. Experimental conditions include mass fluxes from 100 to 200 kg m^?2 s^?1, heat fluxes from 3.08 to 6.16 kW m^?2, inlet vapor qualities from 0.2 to 0.7, and mass fractions of nanoparticles from 0 to 0.5 wt%. The experimental results show that the frictional pressured drop of refrigerant-based nanofluid increases with the increase of the mass fraction of nanoparticles, and the maximum enhancement of frictional pressure drop is 20.8% under above conditions. A frictional pressure drop correlation for refrigerant-based nanofluid is proposed, and the predictions agree with 92% of the experimental data within the deviation of ±15%.