Computational investigation of the high pressure water separator

High pressure water separator (HPWS) has been widely used in aircraft Environmental Control System (ECS) but poorly investigated previously due to its complexity. Numerical method based on Euler - Lagrange computational fluid dynamics is adopted to evaluate the performance characteristics of the high pressure water separator, with the range of the inlet mass flow rate varying from 100kg/h to 1 000 kg/h. The numerical model was validated firstly by the experimental data from literature through the comparison of resistance characteristics of the HPWS. Then the flow field and droplet movement trajectories during the spereation process are revealed by simulation. Furthermore, a novel prediction model of separation efficiencies considering non-uniform droplet sizes is achieved based on the statistical analysis of the effects of flow rates and droplet sizes. From this study, we can see that the HPWS can works more efficiently with the higher flow rate and bigger droplet size, and its actual separation efficiency is influenced by actual droplet size distribution of the inlet. Such results are valuable for the design and optimization of the high pressure water separator.