5-9-B Cyclone Separators

Cyclone separators are gas cleaning devices that

employ a centrifugal force generated by a
spinning gas stream
to separate the particulate matter (solid or liquid)
from the gas carrier.
The operation depends upon the tendency (inertia)
of particles to move in a straight line when the
direction of stream is changed.

Two major classes of cyclone separators

See overhead.

How particles separated from gas?

A high rate of spin
Spinning gas
Centrifugal force fling the dust particles to the walls of
cylinder and cone
The particle then slide down the wall and into the storage
hopper
The cleaned gas gradually spiral downward
The downward cleaned gas gradually reversed its downward
and forms a smaller ascending spiral
A vortex finder tube extending downward into the cylinder
aids in directing the inner vortex out of the device

Efficiency of cyclone separators

Figure 5-16
Table 5-5

The difference in theoretical prediction and

experimnental data

See discussions on 4 points

Reason:
This is caused by the fact that cyclone, like the settling
chamber, has a turbulent flow, although the large
friction losses along the wall tend to dampen out the
turbulence.

A more realistic approach to avoid a sharp cutoff as

predicted in the previously derived theory (equation): to
correlate data from cyclones with similar proportions (in
size) and with respect to a cutoff size dp,50

Find out the cutoff size dp that gives 50% of

efficiency dp,50
dp,50 =

Significance of Figure 5-17

Example 5-8
A cyclone is designed with an inlet width of 12.0 cm and four
effective turns. The inlet gas velocity is to be 15.0 m/s, and the
particle density is 1.70 g/cm3. Estimate the particle size that
will be with 50 percent efficiency, if the gas is air and its
temperature 350K.

In review: Cyclones collection efficiency

col

Why small particles are not captured efficiently?

Other factors that can improve cyclones efficiency