Numerical investigation of multiphase flow in supersonic separator considering inner body effect

This paper presents research on the supersonic nozzle geometry with particularemphasis on the effect of the internal body of the nozzle that largely affects theseparation efficiency. A numerical investigation of the supersonic nozzle withan internal solid body, which forms an annular flow inside the convergent–divergent nozzle is carried out. The present study revealed different hydrody-namic behaviors of the nozzle, exploring different shapes of the inner body,and the computational fluid dynamic simulations of the supersonic nozzle isutilized to find out the best geometrical design. Utilizing a coupled pressure–velocity scheme with high order of discretization of the governing equationyielded to find the shockwave positions in different conditions. The turbulentbehavior of the fluid in the shockwave zone is well discussed and the phase‐change phenomena for the natural gas application are studied considering bothwater condensation and hydrocarbon condensation simultaneously. Differentnozzle configuration elucidates the physical mechanisms of the supersonic flowinside the nozzle. Shockwave position, swirling velocity stability, and mass flowcapacity are investigated. The lower the inner body radius, the less the changeof shockwave position in the gas is found. Also, the higher stability of swirlingvelocity magnitude is found for the convergent–divergent inner body, whichbrings enhanced physical phase separation.