Eulerian-Eulerian Modeling of Disperse Two-Phase Flow in a Gas-Liquid Cylindrical Cyclone

Abstract

Abstract This work presents a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study of a two-phase flow field in a gas-liquid cylindrical cyclone (GLCC) using CFX4.3™, a commercial code based on the finite volume method. 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 phase is modeled as a bimodal bubble size distribution to allow for the presence of free- and entrapment gas, simultaneously. The results (free surface shape and liquid angular velocity) show a reasonable match with experimental data. The CFD technique here proposed demonstrates to satisfactorily reproduce angular velocities of the phases and their spatial distribution inside the GLCC. Computed results also proved to be useful in forecasting bubble and droplet trajectories, from which gas carry under (GCU) and liquid carry over might be estimated. Nevertheless, moderate differences found between the computed GCU and experimental measurements suggest that new adjustments may be done to the numerical model to improve its accuracy.