The Influence of the Separation Plate Angle on the Efficiency and Hydraulic Resistance of a Multivortex Separator

The issue of effective gas purification against suspended solid particles is a prevalent concern in numerous industrial sectors. This paper proposes a novel multivortex separator, comprising coaxially arranged tubes, and inclined separation plates for dusty gas cleaning and describes the design of the device and the separation mechanism for the gas-dust system. Gravitational, inertial, and centrifugal forces are the major forces that influence the separation process of particles from gas within the separator. The present study investigates the influence of the separation plate angle on the particle capture efficiency by the device and its hydraulic resistance. During the numerical study, the following parameters were varied: the separation plate angle was changed from 20° to 60°, the inlet velocity of the dusty flow ranged from 3 to 10 m/s, the diameter of the solid particles varied from 1 to 15 µm, and the density of the particles varied from 2500 to 4000 kg/m³. The findings of studies have demonstrated that inclined separation plates enhance the efficacy of particle capture within the device by establishing spaces with near-zero gas velocities between adjacent plates. These spaces function as buffer zones, into which separated particles are propelled from the swirled gas-dust flow in the annular space, which prevents the rebound of particles back into the carrier flow. It has been determined that the separation plate angle has a negligible effect on the efficiency of the multivortex separator. The optimal velocity of gas-dust flow at the separator inlet was found to be 7 m/s. The efficiency of the device for particles ranging in size from 1 to 15 µm and with a density ranging from 2500 to 4000 kg/m³ was found to be 49.2% on average. The hydraulic resistance was 589.5 Pa. As the inlet velocity of the gas-dust flow varied from 3 to 10 m/s, the hydraulic resistance of the multivortex separator exhibited an increase from 111.1 to 1245.3 Pa.