CFD Simulation of Gas-Particle Helical Separator

In this study, the turbulent gas-particles multi phase flow through the helical coil separator has been simulated by CFD techniques. Eulerian-Eulerian approach was used for multi phase flow simulation. For validation, the friction coefficient gaining from CFD simulation was compared with experimental values. The results showed that the RSM and RNG k-ε turbulence model and wall function model and second upwind method for solving partial differential equations are most appropriate method for simulating two-phase flow through ahelical channel. Finally, the influence of solid load in the gas flow, particle size and flow rate on the separation efficiency and pressure drop were investigated.The results showed with increasing of solid loading, the efficiency of cyclone decreases. The simulations have been done for particle size up to 16 micron, the results present the variation of efficiency is not significant (close to 100%) for particle size bigger than 6 micron. Also it was observedthe appropriate inlet velocity for efficient performance of cyclone is between 5-10 m/s.