STUDY THE PERFORMANCE OF CYCLONE SEPARATOR AND GRAVITY SETTLING CHAMBER ON ICE PLANT

Abstract

Liquid particles entrainment in gas flow can cause substantial problems in process plant operations which use vapour compression refrigeration systems if not properly separated from the gas stream. The conventional gravity settling chamber has the advantages of simple construction, low initial cost, low maintenance cost, and low pressure drop. However, they are large, heavy and expensive to purchase and operate. On the other hand, the cyclone separator is a simple, compact, low weight, low cost and high efficiency separator. This research demonstrates that the implementation of cyclone separators improves the liquid separation process from the gas stream in vapor compression refrigeration system, compared to the conventional gravity settling chambers. Therefore, it is gaining in popularity as an attractive economical alternative to the conventional separator. Models of the gravity separator and the cyclone separator are proposed and then used for a parametric study of the performance under different conditions. The comparison of the two separators is made by running several design and operational data using MATLAB. The results have shown a better performance in the cyclone separator with the variation of particle diameter and the gas-liquid mixture inlet velocity more than the gravity settling chamber.