Numerical Simulation on the Effect of Inlet-Collision in Oil-Gas Separator Used for Air-Conditioning System

A three-dimensional steady-state numerical model of oil-gas separator with inlet-collision structure used in small-sized Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) system was established. RNG k-e model was used in gas field and DRW model was chosen for oil droplets tracking. The influence of inlet-collision on velocity distribution, separation efficiency and pressure loss were studied. The results showed that the inlet-collision structure which had smaller radio of inner pipe length to cyclone bodys height could achieve the same separation efficiency as the no inlet-collision structure with bigger cyclone diameter. Higher separation performance could be obtained when the inlet-collision proportion was less than 26.57% and inlet velocity was about 24 m·s-1.