ANALYSIS OF CYCLONE COLLECTION EFFICIENCY

Simona Lizica PARASCHIV+, Spiru PARASCHIV+

+
DUNAREA DE JOS UNIVERSITY, Galati, Romania.

Rezumat. Separatorul centrifugal (ciclonul) se distinge prin simplitate constructivă, eficienĠă ridicată, siguranĠă
în exploatare, cost redus de intreĠinere úi funcĠionare fiind printre cele mai adecvate úi utilizate separatoare de praf
din aplicaĠiile industriale. Studiile útiinĠifice demonstrează faptul că eficienĠa ciclonului depinde de dimensiunea
particulelor separate, viteza gazului la admisie úi densitatea particulelor. Scopul acestei lucrări este de a arăta
influenĠa dimensiunii particulelor úi a vitezei de intrare a gazului în ciclon asupra eficienĠei colectării.
Cuvinte cheie: eficienĠa ciclonului, densitatea particulelor, diametrul limită al particulelor.

Abstract. Cyclones have been considered as one of the simplest type of separator and because of their high
efficiency, adaptability, simple design and low maintenance, construction and operation costs, they are ideal for
use in the various industrial applications. The literature indicates that the cyclone efficiency is dependent on the
particle size, inlet air velocity and particle density. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the influence of
the particles size and the input velocity of the gas into the cyclone over the collection efficiency.
Keywords: cyclone collection efficiency, particle density, cut-off diameter.

1. INTRODUCTION the operation is generally simple and requires no

maintenance.
The separation of solid particles is required in
Their low capital cost and free maintenance
many industrial processes because of growing
operation makes them ideal for use as pre-cleaners
concern for the environmental effects of particulate
for more efficient final control devices such as
pollution.
electrostatic precipitators.
Cyclone separators has a cutoff aerodynamic
diameter greater than 5 to 10 μm and therefore it is
2. BASICS OF CYCLONE SEPARATORS
often used as common devices for pre-cleaning gas
in front of other high efficiency devices. Cyclone separators are gas cleaning devices
Selecting a particulate emissions control system that use the centrifugal force of a gas stream. The
is generally based on knowledge of four elements: gas flow due tangential entry is forced to follow
particle concentration in the stream to be cleaned, the curved geometry of the cyclone while the
particles size distribution, the flow gas rate and inertia of particles in the flow causes them to move
final allowable particulate emission rate. towards the outer wall, where they collide and
Although cyclones were traditionally regarded collect.
as relatively low efficiency collectors at present In a cyclone the particles from the spinning gas
they can achieve efficiencies of 90% for particles stream move progressively closer to the outer wall
larger than 15 to 20 m. and execute several complete rotations as they
A cyclone separator is a device that separates flow through the device.
particles from a gas stream using centrifugal force. This type of cyclone is used frequently as a pre-
By this method, it is possible to separate the larger cleaner to remove fly ash and large particles and its
particles from the gas. main advantages are low pressure drop and high
The cyclones may be constructed of any volumetric flow rates.
material (metal or ceramic) that is capable of The cyclone separates solid particles from a gas,
withstanding the abrasive particles, high based on the principle of centrifugal force, which
temperatures and corrosive environments. It is is much stronger than gravitational force. It works
necessary that the inner surface be smooth so that more efficiently at high gas flow rates, because a
the collected particles can easily slip down the wall large velocity creates a swirling movement inside
into the bunker. Cyclone has no moving parts so the column.

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The basic principle of cyclone is to force the The discharge orifice is located at the end of
particles laden gas in a vortex, where inertia and conical section and its diameter is determined by
gravitational forces affect particle separation. the application involved and must be large enough
In this device, the fluid enters tangentially into to permit the solids that have been classified to
the cylindrical chamber and the flow descends underflow to exit the cyclone without plugging.
rotating near the wall, until the vortex end position
where the axial velocity component reverses itself, 3. COLLECTION EFFICIENCY OF
thus making the flow to ascend. The ascension CCYCLONE SEPARATORS
proceeds near the cyclone axis and is formed a
The capacity of the cyclone to collect particles
double vortex structure, as indicated in the figure.
is measured by its efficiency Ș, defined as the
fraction of the inlet flow of solids separated in the
cyclone. Since a cyclone typically collects a wide
range of particle sizes, it is common to work also
with different efficiencies, each defined for a
particular and limited range of particle sizes.
It is also evident that very large particles will be
always separated, while the very fine material will
always escape.
The cutoff diameter is defined as the particle
diameter corresponding to 50% cyclone collection
efficiency.
Because of the turbulent flow in the cyclone
separator the particle concentration is assumed to
be uniform and their removal occurs in a thin layer
at the outer wall.
Fig. 1. Sketch of the two flow patterns in a reversed-flow The collection efficiency of a cyclone that has
cyclon
an angle T f is:
The inner vortex will lead the flow out through ª 2vr2 r 2T fº
K 1  exp «  »
«¬ vT2  r  r  »¼
a central duct, called the vortex finder. The vortex 2 2

finder goes into the cyclone body and protects the 2 1

inner vortex from the high inlet velocity and The two velocity components, axial velocity
stabilizes it. and radial velocity are:
The solid particles which are denser than the - axial velocity :
gas, have a high centrifugal force, which directs Q
vT2
them to the walls, where they collide and lose Wr2 ln  r2 / r1 
momentum so become disengaged from the flow. - radial velocity :
The separated solids slide on the conical wall and U p Q 2 Dp2
are collected at the lower part. vr2
18P r23W 2  ln r2 / r1 
2
The main part of the cyclone is the cylindrical
feed chamber whose function is to extend the The collection efficiency in terms of the
cyclone length to increase the retention time. physical variables of the cyclone is:
Another important parameter is the inlet nozzle ª U p QDp2T f º
area in the feeding chamber which is normally a K 1  exp «  »
«¬ 9 P r2W  r2  r1  ln  r2 / r1  »¼
2 2
rectangular orifice.
The next important parameter is the vortex where: Ș is the efficiency of the cyclone; Dp -
finder whose main function is to control both the dimensions of particles, m; r2 - inner radius of
separation process and flow leaving the cyclone. cylindrical body; r1 - outer diameter of central tube;
Vortex finder size is about 0.35 times of the ȡp –particle density; ȝ - gas mixture viscosity; Q -
cyclone diameter and it is sufficiently extended as gas flow rate, m3/s.
to prevent the entry of supplying material directly Figure 2 shows the collection efficiencies for
into the overflow. the cyclone analyzed and we can see that the
For the basic cyclone, its length should be relation predict an asymptotic approach to
100% of its diameter. The conical section has an complete collection with increasing particle
angle between 10o and 20 o and has a similar role diameter. The separation efficiency increases with
with cylinder section to increase retention time. the increasing of particle size.

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 Simona Lizica PARASCHIV, Spiru PARASCHIV

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6
Efficiency [%]

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Particle size [Pm]

Fig. 2. Variation of separation efficiency based on particles

diameter

1 1

3
0.9 Up=1 g/cm 0.9 Up=1,5 g/cm3

0.8 d50
p
=16 Pm 0.8 d50=13 Pm
p

0.7 0.7

0.6
Efficiency [%]

0.6
Efficiency [%]

0.5 0.5

0.4 0.4

0.3 0.3

0.2 0.2

0.1 0.1

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Particle size [Pm] Particle size [ Pm]

3
0.9 Up=2 g/cm

0.8 d50
p
=11 Pm

0.7
Efficiency [%]

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0 ]
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Particle size [Pm]

Fig. 3. Variation of separation efficiency based on particles density

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Figure 3 shows the variation of 50% cutoff REFERENCES

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