Swirling Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow—Experiment and Modeling Part I: Swirling Flow Field

Abstract

Compact cyclonic separators are based on swirling flow, whereby the phases are separated due to the centrifugal forces generated by the flow. This phenomenon is common in several compact separators used by the oil, process, and aerospace industries. The objective of this paper is to study experimentally the hydrodynamics of the continuous liquid phase under swirling two-phase flow, such as that occurring in the lower part of the Gas–Liquid Cylindrical Cyclone (GLCC©1) compact separator and develop a model to characterize it. Local LDV measurements for a swirling flow field have been analyzed and utilized to develop cyclone and pipe swirling flow field prediction correlations. The developed correlations, including the axial, tangential, and radial velocity distributions, have been tested and validated against data from other studies, showing good agreement. The velocity field correlations can be used to analyze swirling two-phase flow in cyclonic separators and pipes. In part II of this two-part paper, correlations are developed for the turbulent quantities, and core characteristics and stability for swirling two-phase flow.