Numerical simulation of two-phase separation in T-junction with experimental validation

Authors

  • Minh Tran Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
  • Zeeshan Memon Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
  • Ahmed Saieed Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
  • William Pao Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
  • Fakhruldin Hashim Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15282/jmes.12.4.2018.17.0363

Keywords:

Two-phase separation, T-junction, numerical simulation, slug flow

Abstract

Liquid carryover in T-junction due to splitting nature of two-phase flow causes serious issues for downstream equipment which is not designed to handle excessive liquid. In this paper, the phenomena of liquid carryover in T-junctions were analyzed using the Volume of Fraction (VOF) together with the k-ε turbulence model. T-junction separation efficiency was measured through mass flow rate fraction of air and water between the branch and main arm over a range of diameter ratios 0.6 to 1.0, water superficial velocity 0.186 to 0.558 m/s and air superficial velocity 4 to 8 m/s. The results showed simulation model was successfully validated with average deviation of less than 5% and can be used to predict phase split of slug flow in T-junction. The numerical model confirmed the significant influence of diameter ratio and superficial velocities of air and water on phase split. Reduced T-junction delivers better separation performance compared to regular T-junction. In slug flow regime, T-junction’s performance can be improved by either decreasing air velocity or increasing water velocity. A new dimensionless parameter, namely the area under the curve of separation efficiency (S), was proposed and proved as a qualified judging criteria for evaluating phase separation efficiency of T-junctions.

Downloads

Published

2018-12-27

How to Cite

[1]
M. Tran, Z. Memon, A. Saieed, W. Pao, and F. Hashim, “Numerical simulation of two-phase separation in T-junction with experimental validation”, J. Mech. Eng. Sci., vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 4216–4230, Dec. 2018.