Simulation of Turbulent Flow in a Cyclonic Separator

In this paper the turbulent flow in a cyclonic separator is investigated with large-eddy simulation (LES) based on a cylindrical coordinate spectral-element-Fourier method (SEM) using the Smagorinsky subgrid-scale model in its standard and dynamic formulation. The results show slight model differences, but both have poor agreement with measurements. The cylindrical-coordinate system geometry used in the SEM-Fourier calculations requires periodicity in the azimuthal direction and cannot model the inflow duct. Hence the flow velocity profiles have to be interpolated onto the intersection of inflow duct and main cyclone wall. A comparison based on a full three-dimensional finite-volume method (FVM) indicates that the inclusion of some portion of the inflow duct in the geometry improves the agreement to experimental results.