Numerical simulation of gas-liquid two-phase flow in recycling cyclone separator with different structure

A numerical study of the droplet motion in the recycling cyclone separator is presented in this paper. The Reynolds stress model (RSM) for the single-phase and the coupling discrete random walk model are adopted for the two-phase. The pressure drop, separation efficiency velocity and turbulence parameters of the gas flow are described to study the effects of different structures on the separation performance of cyclones. The results show that recycling line can improve the efficiency of the recycling cyclone separator and reduce the pressure drop. The gap width and the size of baffle plate affect the separation property of the recycling cyclone. The rectangular-shaped intake behaves better than the cylinder-shaped one. However, the skirted baffle has little effect on the recycling cyclone separator. All the structural features make for a better understanding of the separation mechanism in the recycling cyclone separator. The numerical results are compared with the experimental data and good agreement can be observed.