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.