Supersonic refrigeration performances of nozzles and phase transition characteristics of wet natural gas considering shock wave effects

Laval nozzle is the critical part of supersonic separator to provide refrigeration environment. Due to the back pressure at the outlet of supersonic separator in dehydration process, the condensation characteristics of water vapor and the refrigeration performances of the nozzles are affected by the shock wave. Herein, mathematical models for the supersonic condensation and flow of the methane-water two-phase flow model were established, which were verified by the experimental data. The effects of different divergent angles on the refrigeration and condensation behavior in the Laval nozzle were studied considering shock wave. The results show that the refrigeration performance of the nozzle will be worsen under the presence of shock waves. With the divergent angle of the nozzle increased from 2 degrees to 8 degrees, the lowest temperature was decreased from 304.4 K to 291.8 K, the liquid mass fraction at the nozzle outlet was decreased from 0.84% to 0.133%, the maximum droplet radius that can be obtained was reduced from 2.54 x 10(-7) m to 1.69 x 10(-7) m due to the forward movements of the shock waves. The divergent angle of the nozzle is recommended to be designed to 4 degrees-6 degrees in consideration of the refrigeration performance.