Numerical Analysis of Fluid Flow in a Compact Phase Separator

A compact separator consisting of two volutes (inlet and outlet) connected with a cylindrical chamber is proposed as a cost-effective alternative to conventional separators. The separator has a wide range of applications in the oil and gas industry. It has the advantages of being compact, free of the effect of motion on floating platforms, more tolerant to flow fluctuations and can be modularised in series to remove liquid or gas carry-over. In order to optimize the system performance a series of CFD simulations is programmed covering a wide range of inlet flows (phase mixing percentage). The starting point will be the CFD analysis of the liquid-gas flow, in various inlet flow patterns. The present paper presents the results of the initial two-phase separation process simulation, carried out using the FLUENT commercial CFD code in terms of pressure, velocity and volume fraction distribution for both phases and all over the separator. The cross analysis of the results leads to a better understanding of the two-phase flow and separation inside each component and aids the research team to set up an experimental procedure up and proceed to the next step of the research programme.