Numerical simulation of gas-solid two-phase flow in particle separator

The ingested sand particles can have a significant impact on the performance and safety of the compressor. Thus, the trajectory of the sand particles in the compressor should be accurately predicted. In this paper, the simulations of sand particles’ trajectory based on the gas-solid two-phase flow method in a typical particle separator were chosen to identify the influential factors affecting calculated particle separation efficiency systematically. The results showed that the sand particles’ diameter distribution and initial position are the main factors affecting the calculated separation efficiency. Hence, ensuring that the specified particle diameter distribution conforms to the experiment data is necessary, and the sand particles should be randomly released at the inlet. Besides, the influence of parameters such as the scavenge flow ratio of the particle separator and the shape factor of sand particles on the particle separation efficiency is at a secondary level. The treatment of the intake device, length of the scavenge flow path, turbulence model, interface treatment method, inlet velocity, and flow direction of the sand particles, and the particle–wall collision model have shown a minor impact on the calculated particle separation efficiency, indicating relatively flexible choices can be made in the simulations.