Effect of dry / wet steam outlet area ratio on the performance of supersonic separator

Supersonic swirling separator is a vital equipment for natural gas purification. The change in the dry / wet steam outlet area in the separator drainage structure has a significant effect on shock wave formation and condensation separation, but there are few studies on this aspect. Therefore, based on the CH₄H₂O two-component gas condensation model, a complete supersonic swirling separator was established, a new separation efficiency calculation method was proposed, and the influence of the dry/wet steam outlet area ratio on condensation and separation was studied. The wet steam outlet area, dry steam outlet area and flow area are changed respectively for calculation. The results show that when the ratio of wet steam outlet area to flow area is 0.5, the ratio of dry steam outlet area to flow area is 0.45, and the ratio of flow area to separator cross-sectional area is in the range of 0.77–0.94, the best condensation and separation effect can be achieved.