Simulation and Experimental Research on a Gas Liquid Separator with Rotary Impeller

Gas-liquid separation technology under microgravity is the basis for various gas and liquid treatments on a manned spacecraft, which has a wide range of applications in Environmental Control and Life Support System. Dynamic gas-liquid separator is commonly used for the separation of gas-liquid two-phase flow, which has two essential performance parameters called liquid outlet pressure and separating efficiency. Predicting these two parameters accurately under a specific structure has guiding significance for design and application of the dynamic gas-liquid separator. In this study, CFD simulations were conducted using the Volume of Fluid (VOF) model at steady state conditions. In addition, experiments were designed to verify the accuracy of numerical results. Finally, the performance of the separator under microgravity was predicted. It is showed that the simulation method can be utilized to determine the transport performance of dynamic gas-liquid separator, which has significant value in design and optimization.