Numerical investigation on droplet separation performance of corrugated plate gas-liquid separators

The separation performance of droplets in hookless, single-hook, and double-hook corrugated plates is simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD)—combining the realizable k-ε model (to describe fluid turbulence) and the Lagrange approach (to track droplet motion).The simulated separation performance is validated in comparison with the experimental data of the hookless and single-hook corrugated plates in literature. The effects of hooks on fluid velocity, fluid pressure, and turbulence kinetic energy are compared. Grade separation efficiency, segment separation efficiency, and overall separation efficiency are evaluated over a fluid pressure range of 1.6 to 7.0 MPa. A correlation for the segment fluid pressure loss is proposed as a function of fluid pressure. At 3.0 m/s inlet velocity, the local maximum fluid velocity reached 14.6 m/s for the single-hook plate (vs. 3.5 m/s for the hookless plate and 4.2 m/s for the double-hook plate); For droplet diameters of 20–40 μm, the grade separation efficiency of the single-hook plate was 8–12% higher than that of the double-hook plate; The overall fluid pressure drop of the single-hook plate was 9.4 times that of the hookless plate, and 1.6 times that of the double-hook plate at 7.0 m/s inlet velocity. Simulations show that the single-hook corrugated plate separator contributes mostly in enhancing the separation efficiency but with a high fluid pressure drop. The hookless corrugated plate has a low pressure drop and separation efficiency. The fluid pressure drops of double-hooks corrugated plate falls in between them. The separation efficiency of the single-hook corrugated plate decreases with the increase of fluid pressure. Simulations show the fluid velocity contours with a high fluid at each convex sharp bend, a slow fluid in the downstream of the bend and a rapid settling down to a repeating pattern after successive bends in three different corrugated plate separators.