Inertial Separators

Inertial separators serve in heterogenous process flows to separate the solid or liquid phase from the gaseous one. There are different types of inertial separators, which are usually based on utilizing the effect of the gravitational force or of centrifugal forces in conjunction with the different densities of the phases to achieve separation.

In order to increase the degree of separation, baffles can be arranged in the path of the process flow to direct the movement of the solid or fluid particles, respectively, in a particular direction.

Complete separation of the phases can not always be achieved so that traces of the solid or liquid phase remain in the gaseous one and vice versa. The degree of separation can be limited by the type of inertial separator, if it cannot be implemented technically in such a way that complete separation is achieved. Spatial constraints on the size of the components can reduce the attainable degree of separation. It is also possible, that beyond a certain degree of separation a further increase is not economically reasonable.