Study of a Two-Phase Flow Pump and Separator System

Abstract

The Aero-Thermo-Mechanics (ATM) Department of ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles) is developing an original system to pump and separate a two-phase flow. Many applications need to extract a certain phase of a multiphase flow: oil extraction, flow in nuclear pumps, flow in aircraft lubrication systems, pulp and paper processing, etc. The main objective of this study is to obtain a lightweight, compact, and efficient system that can both extract the gas of a two-phase flow and increase the pressure of the liquid phase. Prototypes with different designs were first tested at ULB on a specific test bench using water and air. The current prototype is a kind of axial-centrifugal pump. The axial part is used to separate the two phases of the flow and to collect, in the centrifugal part, the liquid phase only. The test results of the water-air prototypes have allowed to identify the key design and working parameters for efficient separation and pumping. A theoretical model has also been developed to describe the behavior of these prototypes. After successful tests with water-air mixtures, the technology has been implemented for a hot oil-air mixture. The tests with oil-air mixtures are performed on the aeroengine lubrication system test bench that the ATM Department developed and continues developing for other projects. At the same time, the flow field in the pump and separator system is being studied with commercial computational fluid dynamics software packages. Several two-phase flow models are considered for this particular application.

Dimensional analysis of an integrated pump and de-aerator solution in more electric aero engine oil systems

“…This theory is used to design the oil-air prototypes presented in Steimes et al (24) . Previous works (23,37) indicate that the de-aeration efficiency of the PASS is dependent on the rotational speed, the back-pressure and the oil flow rate and temperature. Experiments reveal that a liquid film appears on the outer part of the prototype and that the back-pressure and the rotational speed are directly related to the thickness of this film.…”

“…Preliminary theoretical analysis, based on Bernoulli equation (25) , explained simply the behaviour of the liquid film created on the outer part of the prototype by the separated oil. It was developed using water/air prototypes that allowed a visual access to the PASS (23) . This theory is used to design the oil-air prototypes presented in Steimes et al (24) .…”

“…It will need to sustain the new operating conditions of the MEE. Previous works (23)(24)(25)(26) studied the experimental and preliminary theoretical characterization of two different PASS prototypes. The results presented in the experimental section of Steimes et al (24) highlighted the fact that this theory could not be linked easily to the variation of the de-aeration efficiency with the oil flow rates and temperatures.…”

Research on Performance Prediction Model of Impeller-Type Breather

“…Disregarding the aggregation and fragmentation of oil droplets in the process of oil droplet movement, the calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental data, which shows that the Euler-Lagrange model can simulate the two-phase flow field of oil and gas in an impeller breather well. In 2011, Gruselle et al [7] described the thickness of liquid film in the cavity of centrifugal oil/gas separation and pumping using the Bernoulli equation and the mass conservation equation. The influencing factors and variation of the gas containing rate at the oil outlet and the oil containing rate at the gas outlet were explained indirectly.…”

The effects of the lower outlet on the flow field of small gas–liquid cylindrical cyclone

“…1 For instance, GLCC separators are used as alternative devices to replace gravity separators in petroleum industry, 2 and they are also used in lubrication systems of aero engines to separate the air-oil mixture collected from the lubrication sumps. 3 The complex flow patterns taking place in GLCC body significantly influence the separation efficiency, so many scholars investigated the GLCC flow field numerically and experimentally. [4][5][6][7][8][9] With no moving parts, the geometry of GLCC is simple.…”