Various modifications may be made to improve the operation of the cyclone separator in

special cases. If there is a large proportion of fine material present, a bag filter may be
attached to the
clean gas outlet. Alternatively, the smaller particles
may be removed by means of a spray of water which is injected
into the separator. In some cases, the removal of the solid material
is facilitated by running a stream of water down the walls and this
also reduces the risk of the particles becoming re-entrained in the
gas stream. The main difficulty lies in wetting the particles with
the liquid. Because the separation of the solid particles which have
been thrown out to the walls is dependent on the flow of gas parallel to the axis rather than to
the effect of gravity, the cyclone can be mounted in any desired direction. In many cases
horizontal cyclone separators are used, and occasionally the separator is fixed at the junction
of two mutually perpendicular pipes and the axis is then a quadrant of a circle. The cyclone
separator is PARTICULATE SOLIDS 79 usually mounted vertically, except where there is a
shortage of headroom, because removal of the solids is more readily achieved especially if
large particles are present. A double cyclone separator is sometimes used when the range of
the size of particles in the gas stream is large. This consists of two cyclone separators, one
inside the other. The gas stream is introduced tangentially into the outer separator and the
larger particles are deposited. The partially cleaned gas then passes into the inner separator
through tangential openings and the finer particles are deposited there because the separating
force in the inner separator is greater than that in the outer cylinder. In Figure 1.56, a
multicyclone is illustrated in which the gas is subjected to further action in a series of tubular
units, the number of which can be varied with the throughput. This separator is therefore
rather more flexible than the simple cyclone.