Experimental study of gas–liquid behavior in three-flow vortex tube with sintered metal porous material as the drain part

Natural gas dehydration is a crucial step in gas processing, and three-flow vortex tubes have numerous advantages over traditional dehydration methods. In this study, a three-flow vortex tube with a sintered metal porous material as the drain part was developed. Further, the gas–liquid behavior within the main tube and sintered metal porous material (SMPM) was experimentally analyzed. Owing to the different driving forces, the gas and liquid first separate in the main tube, followed by further separation in the SMPM. With the SMPM as the drain part, the adverse impact of the drain processes and the amount of discharged gas from the drain port can be minimized compared to the traditional drain part with an annular space. The cooling performance dominated the dehydration ability of the three-flow vortex tube, and the largest dew point drop was 18.3 °C. Further, the largest total moisture content reduction ratio of the two exits was 61.1% at an inlet pressure of 2.0 bar and cold mass fraction of 0.45. Thus, it was demonstrated that the three-flow vortex tube with SMPM as the drain part is a potential device for gas dehydration.