Wet Gas Separation in Gas-Liquid Cylindrical Cyclone Separator

A novel gas-liquid cylindrical cyclone (GLCC©, ©The University of Tulsa, 1994), equipped with an annular film extractor (AFE), for wet gas applications has been developed and studied experimentally and theoretically. Detailed experimental investigation of the modified GLCC has been carried out for low and high pressure conditions. The results show expansion of the operational envelope for liquid carry-over and improved performance of the modified GLCC. For low pressures, the modified GLCC can remove all the liquid from the gas stream, resulting in zero liquid carry-over (separation efficiency=100%). For high pressure conditions, the GLCC with a single AFE has separation efficiency >80% for gas velocity ratio, vsg/vann≤3. A mechanistic model and an aspect ratio design model for the modified GLCC have been developed, including the analysis of the AFE. The model predictions agree with the experimental data within ±15% for low pressure and ±25% for high pressure conditions.