A mathematical model for phase equilibrium prediction of multi-component gas separation process inside a supersonic separator is established and an efficient numerical solution method is designed. The model and the numerical method are then used to predict the phase equilibrium characteristics and the separation performance of a field test natural gas supersonic purification separator. The predicted results are generally in good agreement with the field test measurements, which proves that the phase equilibrium model and the solution method are both reliable and accurate, and can be used for the prediction of the vapor and liquid phase equilibrium and the separation performance and the configuration optimization of supersonic separator.
BAO LingLing1, LIU ZhongLiang1, LIU HengWei1, JIANG WenMing1, ZHANG Ming1 & ZHANG Jian2 1 Education Ministry Key Lab of Enhanced Heat Transfer & Energy Conversation, College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
A mathematical model was developed to investigate the water vapor spontaneous condensation under supersonic flow conditions. A numerical simulation was performed for the water vapor condensable supersonic flows through Laval nozzles under different flow friction conditions. The comparison between numerical and experimental results shows that the model is accurate enough to investigate the supersonic spontaneous condensation flow of water vapor inside Laval nozzles. The influences of flow friction drag on supersonic spontaneous condensation flow of water vapor inside Laval nozzles were investigated. It was found that the flow friction has a direct effect on the spontaneous condensation process and therefore it is important for an accurate friction prediction in designing this kind of Laval nozzles.
