Separation of Air From Two-Phase Air-Water Mixture Flowing in a Mini Channel

An air-water separator which uses the centrifugal force as a driving force was developed and tested for micro scale flow systems. The device is composed of a main-channel of return bend, a sub-channel running along the main-channel, and several connecting-channels which connect the main- and the sub-channel. When two-phase mixture flows through the curved main-channel, water drifts towards outside region of the curvature and partly into the sub-channel. Consequently air holdup in main-channel becomes large at its exit. The performance of the device was evaluated numerically and experimentally by means of water recovery, air recovery, and Newton efficiency.