Specific features of the flow of a two-phase stream in a grainy bed of a separator

The structure of a two-phase stream in a regular grainy bed of a separator was analyzed. A two-phase emulsion stream in a grainy bed transforms into a stream of two mutually permeable continuous phases with a highly developed and nondegenerate (i.e., not varying noticeably with time) phase boundary surface, which creates favorable conditions both for induced coalescence of emulsion contaminations and for mass exchange between the streams. High retaining power of a grainy bed toward minor stream and the corresponding differences in the flow velocities give rise to a braking effect for impurities adsorbed on the phase boundary, which allows the use of the separator for removing solid phase particles from the product stream. The possibility of removing carbon black particles from a stream simulating a spent nuclear fuel solution was demonstrated.