Escoamentos rotativos confinados em um separador ciclônico gás-líquido com internos - estudo teórico e experimental

Abstract

The present study conducts a theoretical and experimental investigation of confined swirling flows in a specific compact gas-liquid cyclonic separator geometry with internal elements. The two inner static components are known as swirl blades section and a conic plate positioned above vertical blades, named chinese hat. Although these components were designed to increase the performance of the separator, little is known about its influence on the flow dynamics and pressure drop. This equipment, typically used in the oil industry to dry out the produced gas. The objective of the current research is to investigate the behavior of the flow inside the separator, under the individual and collective influence of the internal components. Rigorous single-phase flow measurements of pressure and velocity have been performed. The Velocity field was characterized by Particle Image Velocimetry in axial and cross section planes. The pressure drop was measured between the entrance and the outlet flow from the vortex finder. The present investigation was restricted to single phase flows in order to allow the use of optical techniques. Results show that the chinese hat increases the pressure drop while the swirl blades reduces it, as it promotes the flow reorganization. Both internals provoke significant changes on velocity field.