Analysis method for inertial particle separator

This paper describes an analysis method for an inertial particle separator system modeled as a multi-element airfoil configuration. The analysis method is implemented in a numerical tool that is able to perform impingement analysis using spherical, nonspherical particles as well as water droplets for a range of Reynolds number (10^-4 ≤ Re ≤ 5 × 10⁵). A limitations of the analysis tool is that it lacks an appropriate particle rebound model for the treatment of particle-wall collisions. The usefulness of the analysis tool is its use in conjunction with a multipoint inverse design tool for the design of a multi-element airfoil based inertial particle separator system model in an inverse fashion as opposed to the direct design methods being employed currently for this task. With such a design and analysis tool at hand, the design space can be explored as well as tradeoff studies can be performed that can aid in the development of a more efficient design methodology for multi-element airfoil based inertial particle separator systems.