Numerical simulations of airflow and droplet transport in a wave-plate mist eliminator

Abstract

In this paper, the droplet transport and deposition in the turbulent airflow inside a wave-plate mist eliminator was studied using an Eulerian–Lagrangian computational method. The Reynolds Stress Transport Model (RSTM) with standard wall functions and with enhanced wall treatment was used for simulating the airflow field. A computer code for solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations in conjunction with the RSTM on two-dimensional collocated unstructured meshes was developed. For droplet trajectory analysis, another computer code was developed that accounts for the drag and lift forces action on the droplets. The Eddy Interaction Model (EIM) was used to model the droplet dispersion in turbulent airflow. The gas flow code was validated by comparing the computational model results for a fully developed asymmetric channel turbulent flow with the experimental data. Then the airflow and droplet trajectory analysis were performed for a mist eliminator with smooth walls and the resultant removal efficiency curves were evaluated and compared with the available experimental data. The results showed that the enhanced wall treatment improved the predictions of the droplet removal efficiency especially for small droplets in which the removal efficiency was lower than 50%. On the other hand, the Reynolds Stress Transport Model (RSTM) with standard wall functions cannot predict the removal efficiency correctly, especially for low gas velocities.