Effect of Geometrical Parameters on the Flow Pattern and Performance ‎of Gas-Particle Separators: A Numerical Study

Abstract

Air and gas pollution has become a critical problem endangering species life worldwide. Among all technologies proposed to solve this problem, separators including cyclones have attracted tremendous attention towards separation of airborne and solid particles from air and gases due to their simplicity of construction, low operating costs and flexibility in tolerating hard conditions. In this study, a numerical investigation of solid particle separation in gas-particle cyclones is presented. The Reynolds stress turbulence model (RSM) is employed to simulate a strongly swirling turbulent air flow along with the discrete phase model (DPM) to trace the particles. A wide range of geometrical parameters is studied to find out how they affect the flow field pattern and particle separation in cyclones, hence the cyclone performance. It is shown that the pressure drop and the tangential velocity decrease with inlet angle increment. In addition, the static pressure increases due to a small diameter reduction originating from the reduction in cone angle. The static pressure is significantly reduced in the cyclone with higher cone height when the axial velocity changes are not noticeable. This parametric study developed based on a numerical model, can have a great potential for design and fabrication of cyclones used in gas-solid separation industries.