EFFECTS OF GEOMETRICAL CHANGE IN CYCLONE VORTEX FINDER ON PRESSURE DROP AND COLLECTION EFFICIENCY

Abstract

Enhancement of separation efficiency is important for cyclone separators to reduce any extra purification process required at the outlet. Therefore, the present research was performed to enhance the performance of cyclone separators with modified cone shaped vortex finder. In this study, a CFD is used to predict and evaluate the effects of vortex finder shape and length on cyclones collection efficiency and pressure drop and results were validate with experimentation. Modelling done in CFD with 12 m/s inlet velocity and with nine different models, pressure drop measured at two different outlets. Experimental setup for model 5 with 200 mm depth and 30° cone angle proved that pressure drop affects collection efficiency and better collection efficiency can be obtained with shape and length change in vortex finder of cyclone separator. The study proved the effectiveness of cone shaped vortex finder reducing the pressure drop. The CFD results are compared with the experimental data and result is observed.