Numerical Investigation of Separation Characteristics for a Volute-Type Multichannel Gas–Liquid Cyclone Separator

To resolve the low separation efficiency and gas core oscillation in traditional single-inlet cyclone separators due to flow field asymmetry, this study employs a combined approach of single-factor analysis and response surface methodology to systematically investigate the effects of key structural parameters on separation performance within the volute-type multichannel cyclone separator. The numerical simulation is conducted via the transient pressure-based solver in ANSYS Fluent, with the computational domain encompassing the entire flow region of the separator─including the inlet pipe, volute channel, separator cylinder, overflow pipe, and underflow pipe. The results indicate that compared to the traditional single-inlet configuration, the volute-type multichannel cyclone separator significantly enhances flow field symmetry under Reynolds numbers ranging from Re = 4.3 × 104 to 1.1 × 105 based on inlet hydraulic diameter. Its tangential velocity and turbulence intensity distribution are more conducive to efficient gas–liquid separation, establishing optimized flow field conditions for an improved separation performance. Under the operating conditions of 70 L/min inlet liquid flow rate and 12.5% gas void fraction, the optimized separator exhibits a liquid carry over of 0.04 L/min, lower than the 0.47 L/min of the original configuration and the 1.03 L/min of the traditional single-inlet configuration. These findings conclusively demonstrate the superiority of the volute-type multichannel configuration in enhancing separation efficiency and flow field stability, providing a technical reference for the design and application of high-efficiency cyclone separators.