A Method to Design and Optimize Axial Flow Cyclones for Gas–Liquid Separation

Anderson, Kyle; Zhang, Xiang; Abbasi, Bahman

doi:10.1115/1.4050638

A Method to Design and Optimize Axial Flow Cyclones for Gas–Liquid Separation

Journal Article · 27 May 2021 · Journal of Fluids Engineering

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4050638· OSTI ID:1848333

Anderson, Kyle ^[1]; Zhang, Xiang ^[1]; Abbasi, Bahman ^[1]

School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331

This article provides a detailed design guide, optimization, and performance assessment for air–water separation of an axial flow cyclone. Axial flow cyclones (also known as swirl tube demisters, mist eliminators, or Austin–Write cyclones) have a range of applications in several different industries. This method of gas–liquid separation offers many benefits. Among these are high liquid separation efficiencies (near 99%) and an inline design that allows them to be more easily fitted into existing piping structures. Despite these benefits, there are several design parameters that have not been optimized for performance in wastewater purification applications. This research fills the gap in the literature by quantifying the effect of new design parameters on water collection efficiency, η_{water collection}, and the air bypass efficiency, η_{air bypass}, defined as the ratio of the air mass flowrate exiting through the desired air outlet over the inlet air mass flowrate. A set of wide-ranging experiments were conducted to study the effects of gas–liquid flow rates, tube geometry, and relative injection angles to optimize the water collection and air bypass efficiencies. The water collection efficiency exceeded 99.8% when the liquid streamline came in direct contact with the water drainage exit. An empirical correlation was developed to predict the swirl pitch as a function of the above design parameters. Predictions from the correlation were within 10% of the experimental results. The correlation can be used to design highly efficient in-line gas–liquid separators.

Research Organization:: Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)

DOE Contract Number:: AR0001000

OSTI ID:: 1848333

Journal Information:: Journal of Fluids Engineering, Vol. 143, Issue 9; ISSN 0098-2202

Publisher:: ASME

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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