A NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF GAS CYCLONE SEPARATION

EFFICIENCY WITH COMPARISON TO EXPERIMENTAL DATA AND

PRESENTATION OF A COMPUTER-BASED CYCLONE DESIGN
METHODOLOGY

A Thesis
Presente d to
The Graduate Faculty of the University of Akron

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Science

Steve Kegg

A NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF GAS CYCLONE SEPARATION

August, 2008
EFFICIENCY WITH COMPARISON TO EXPERIMENTAL DATA AND
PRESENTATION OF A COMPUTER-BASED CYCLONE DESIGN
METHODOLOGY

Steve Kegg
Thesis

Approve
d:

Accepte
d:

Advisor
Dr. Minel J. Braun

Dean of the College

Dr. George Haritos

Faculty
Reader
Dr.
Scott Sawyer

Dean of the Graduate

School Dr. George R.
Newkome

Department Chair
Dr. Celal Batur

Date

ABSTRACT

Cyclone separators have existe d since the 1800s an d are still widely use d in
many industries to separate particles from gases. Although cyclones are geometrically
simple, the physics describing the flow and separation processes which occur in them is
complex. Over the decades many researchers have studied these devices and have
developed a number of theories and empirical models for design purposes. In practice,
most cyclones are designed using some type of empirical information. Physical prototypes
are then built, tested and tuned until an acceptable level of performance is obtained.
Recent advancements in numerical methods and in the performance capabilities of
moderately price d computers have opene d the possibility of developing computer-base d
methods, which are not primarily based on empirical models that can be effectively use d
for cyclone design. Cyclone flows are characterized by high swirl and stream wise
curvature. This paper presents a description of the numerical models that can be used to
calculate the performance of cyclones including the gas flow and the particle tracking
processes.
A commercially available computational fluid dynamics (CFD) computer program
using these numerical models was used to calculate the performance of a cyclone at
several operating points. The calculated performance was then compared to experimental
data. One of the characteristics of the separation process which was

observed was the short circuiting of particles. This short circuiting allowed some particles
to leave the system shortly after they were injecte d. The phenomenon of particle reentrainment from the dust bin, which re duces the effectiveness of the cyclone, was also
observed in the calculated results.
As a result of the work done in this study, a computer-base d cyclone separator
design methodology is presented. The methodology is believed to be unique in that it
takes advantage of the cyclone design knowledge which has been gained over the years of
research by others as well as current state-of-the-art numerical methods. The existing
knowledge is use d to provide quick starting geometry at the beginning of a new design
process when no other information is available. This knowledge is presented in the form
of cyclone performance and sizing correlations. Also, to aid in the design process,
guidelines have been assembled from the literature, which help the designer decide which
types of geometry changes should be considered to affect the performance characteristics
with which he is most concerned. The heart of the methodology is a CFD-based approach
that provides detailed cyclone performance calculations. This methodology provides the
potential to produce cyclone designs with the required performance characteristics more
quickly and more economically than older methods which use empirical and experimental
design approaches exclusively.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
LIST OF TABLES..............................................................................................................xi
LIST OF FIGURES.........................................................................................................xiii
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................1
1.1 Cyclone Separator Overview...................................................................................1
1.2 Literature Review.....................................................................................................4
1.3 ScopeofWork..........................................................................................................13
II. ANALYTICAL MODEL.......................................................................................15
2.1 Intro duction...........................................................................................................15
2.2 Flow Governing Equations....................................................................................20
2.3 Turbulence.............................................................................................................21
2.3.1

Intro duction to Turbulence Mo dels..............................................................21

2.3.2

Type I: Eddy Viscosity Models Using the Boussinesq Assumption...............25

2.3.3

Type II: Models Based on the Reynolds-Stress Equation..............................29

2.3.4

Type III: Models Not Based Completely on the Reynolds-Stress Equation...

31
2.3.5

The Turbulence Mo del Use d for this Work..................................................32

2.4 Particle Dynamics Motion Equations....................................................................32

III. THE NUMERICAL MODEL AS IMPLEMENTED IN FLUENT.......................36
3.1 Intro ducti on..........................................................................................................36
3.2 Implementation of the Flow Governing Equations...............................................36
3.3 Choice of Turbulence Model and its Implementation...........................................37
3.4 Two Phase Flow: Air an d Solid Particle Mixture................................................41
3.4.1

Basic Particle Trajectory Calculations............................................................41

3.4.2

The Turbulent Dispersion of Particles............................................................42

3.5 The Fluent Solver an d Solution Metho dology.....................................................45

3.5.1

Overview of Control Volume Metho d...........................................................45

3.5.2

Choice of Equation Discretization Schemes..................................................48

3.5.3

Solving the Equations.....................................................................................50

3.5.4

Convergence Criteria......................................................................................52

3.6 Chapter Summary..................................................................................................53

IV. EXPERIMENTAL DATA......................................................................................55
4.1 Intro ducti on..........................................................................................................55
4.2 150 mm Cyclone Geometry...................................................................................55
4.3 Test Dust Characteristics........................................................................................55
4.4 Experimental Collection Efficiency Results..........................................................58

4.4.1

Grade Efficiency Curves.................................................................................58

4.4.2

Absolute Collection Efficiency......................................................................60

4.4.3

Measurement Uncertainty Estimates..............................................................65