Separation performance investigation on the influence of typical structural parameters of zigzag vane plate droplet separator

Abstract

To improve the structure of the steam generator zigzag vane plate droplet separator and increase the performance, in this paper, the relationship of some typical geometric factors was investigated numerically and experimentally.It is found that the demister uses more classes or prolongs the wavelength can remarkably improve the droplets’ separation performance and re-entrainment. However, enlarging the plate spacing can improve the separation performance. The zigzag vane plate droplet separator N2D2 became the optimal plate type due to its high separation performance. Finally, experimental research on zigzag vane plate droplet separators was conducted to verify the simulation results and the distribution patterns of the liquid film. The experimental results showed that the simulation results of the zigzag vane plate droplet separator accurately reflected the internal liquid film distribution and external characteristics. This study provides a theoretical basis and experimental reference for improving the separation performance in nuclear power plants. Therefore, it is concluded that to optimize the comprehensive performance of the zigzag vane plate droplet separator, the vane spacing should be maintained at approximately 28.5 mm with a two-stage configuration (each stage length of 60 mm). Compared to the 4-class-stage configuration, this design achieves a 58 % reduction in pressure drop, while exhibiting a 3 % increase in separation efficiency and a 2 m/s enhancement in re-entrainment critical velocity (u_c) compared to the one class configuration.