Two-Phase Swirling Flow in a Barrel of a Steam Separator

Abstract

A downscaled model of a steam separator is used to understand characteristics of swirling flow after passing through the pick-off ring (POR). Main conclusions obtained are as follows. (1) At high liquid volume fluxes, many droplets entrain in the gas core at the downstream edge of the POR. The liquid film thickness above the POR gradually increases because many droplets deposit on the liquid film. (2) At low liquid volume fluxes, water accumulates just behind the POR. (3) Improvement of the POR, based on the model results, is effective for gas-liquid separation especially under high liquid volume flux conditions.