Numerical simulation of gas-solid two-phase flow in particle separator

The ingested sand particles can have a significant impact on the performance and safety of the compressor, thus the trajectory of the sand particles in the compressor should be accurately predicted. In this paper, the simulations of sand particles’ trajectory based on gas-solid two-phase flow method in a typical particle separator was chosen to systematically identify the influential factors which would affect calculated particle separation efficiency. The results showed that the diameter distribution and initial position of the sand particles are the main factors affecting the calculated separation efficiency, hence it’s necessary to ensure that the specified particle diameter distribution conforms to the experiment data, and the sand particles should be randomly released at the inlet. Besides, the influence of the parameters such as scavenge flow ratio of the particle separator and shape factor of sand particles on the particle separation efficiency is at a secondary level. The treatment of the intake device, length of the scavenge flow path, turbulence model, interface treatment method, inlet velocity and flow direction of the sand particles, and the particle–wall collision model have shown minor impact on the calculated particle separation efficiency, indicating relatively flexible choices can be made in the simulations.