Flow conditioning downstream a pressure collector

In this paper, incompressible turbulent flow downstream a symmetric pressure collector with fixed outlet pipe length is studied. The goal is to obtain smooth axial velocity profile at the outlet plane. Finite-volume RANS equations with a SST turbulence model are used to describe the motion of fluid. The solution is carried out with the ANSYS FLUENT solver. The transitional part in the T-junction pipe is redesigned to straighten the flow, series of conical confusers and plate grids are employed to reduce both the size of the recirculation area and the magnitude of rotational velocity. The final geometry is tested under asymmetric inlet boundary conditions and its efficiency is shown. CFD results are compared to literature data in terms of pressure drop.