Particle Size Effects on Hydro-Cyclone Performance

Abstract

The hydrocyclone has a very important roll in industrial separation. The consideration of its behavior is very important for design. In this investigation, behavior of water flow and particles trajectory inside a hydrocyclone has been considered by means of numerical and experimental methods, and results have been compared together. To have a numerical simulation, a CFD software was used, and for modeling flow the RNG k – model applied. Finally, the effect of particle size on hydrocyclone performance has been studied. It was found that the grade efficiency and number of particle that exit from underflow of the hydrocyclone is increased when bigger particles is used. A series of experiments has been carried out in a laboratory with a hydrocyclone. Comparison shows that, there is a good agreement between the CFD models and experimental result.

Keywords

• Hydrocyclone
• CFD modeling
• Particle size
• Discrete phase