Fig2. The 3D schematic of gas liquid two-phase flow loop
The separator investigated in this study is made of Plexiglas with a swirl vane, a recovery vane and a swirl chamber. All dimensions (units in mm) of the separator except the recovery vane and the swirl vane are labelled in Fig.3. The swirl vane designed to generate the swirl flow is characterized by the swirl number. The physical explanation and mathematical definition is introduced in detail in our previous study [3] and a swirl number of 0.35 was adopted. In addition, with the swirl number, a Reynolds number defined by the inner diameter of swirl chamber as the length scale and the area averaged axial velocity as the velocity scale is usually used to characterize the swirl flow. The separator was operated at a Reynolds number of Re=70 524 with the averaged axial velocity Vav=1.41 m/s. Measurements were performed on five axial regions from the swirl vane to the recovery vane. Each section covers an area across 1D in the radial direction and 0.7D in the axial direction and z* is normalized by the inner diameter D of the separator, i.e. z*=z/D. The position information and the adopted coordinate system are shown in Fig.3.