表面張力を利用した小型気液分離器の開発

抄録

In the present study, a compact gas-liquid separator using micro grooves is proposed and its performance is evaluated by air-water experiment. The gas bubbles are forced out from the liquid flow at the expanding section by the minimization effect of excess gas-liquid interface free energy, while the liquid phase remain confined inside the micro grooves. Two major limits of gas-liquid separation, i.e., (1) flooding limit at high liquid flow rate, and (2) entrainment limit at high gas flow rate are found and investigated by flow visualization. Finally, dimensionless correlations for predicting gas-liquid separation limits are proposed. Furthermore, guidelines to design a high-performance and compact gas-liquid separator are discussed.