Learning Unit 6 - Cyclones Continued

Learning unit 6 – Circular motion of particles: Cyclones
2020
At the end of this unit you should be able to:
• Perform the scale-up of a gas cyclone.
• Understand the range of operation for gas cyclones.
• Understand, in details, the practical design and operational details of

cyclones.
• Calculate the efficiency of a cyclone through the cut size phenomena.
2
Scale-Up of Cyclones
• Scale-up of cyclones is based on a dimensionless group, the Stokes’ number.
• It characterizes the separation performance of a family of geometrically similar cyclones.
• The Stokes number is defined as:
Where µ is gas viscosity, ρp is solids density, v is the characteristic velocity and D is the diameter of
the cyclone body.
• Physical significance of the Stokes number is that it is a ratio of the centrifugal force (less
buoyancy) to the drag force, both acting on a particle size x50.
• For large industrial cyclones the Stokes number, like the Euler number defined previously, is
independent of the Reynolds number.
3
Range of Operation
• One of the most important characteristics of gas cyclones is the way in which their efficiency is affected
by pressure drop (or flow rate).
• For a particular cyclone and inlet particle concentration, total efficiency of separation and pressure
drop vary with gas flow rate.
Figure 1: Total separation efficiency and

pressure drop versus gas flow rate
through a reverse flow cyclone
4
• Theory predicts that efficiency increases with increasing gas flow rate.
• In practice, the total efficiency curve falls away at high flow rates because re-entrainment of separated
solids increases with increased turbulence at high velocities.
• Optimum operation is achieved somewhere between points A and B, where maximum total
separation efficiency is achieved with reasonable pressure loss.
• Position of B changes only slightly for different dusts.
• Correctly designed and operated cyclones should operate at pressure drops within a recommended
range; and this, for most cyclone designs operated at ambient conditions, is between 500 to 1 500 Pa.
• Within this range, the total separation efficiency ET increases with applied pressure drop.
• Above the top limit the total efficiency no longer increases with increasing pressure drop and it may
actually decline due to re-entrainment of dust from the dust outlet orifice.
• It is, therefore, wasteful of energy to operate cyclones above the limit.
• At pressure drops below the bottom limit, the cyclone represents little more than a settling chamber,
giving low efficiency due to low velocities within it which may not be capable of generating a stable
vortex.
5
Some Crucial Design Considerations
Effect of Dust Loading on Efficiency

• High dust loadings (above about 5 g/m3) lead to higher total separation efficiencies due to particle
enlargement through agglomeration (caused, for example, by the effect of humidity).
Cyclone Types
• Reverse flow cyclone designs available today are divided into two main groups:
• Stairmand High Efficiency
• Stairmand High Rate
6
Some Crucial Design Considerations (Cont.)
Stairmand High Efficiency

• High recoveries.
• Small inlet and gas outlet orifices.
Stairmand High Rate

• Lower total efficiencies.
• Low resistance to flow.
• Higher gas capacity.
• Large inlets and gas outlets, and are usually shorter.
7
Class Example
Determine the diameter and number of gas cyclones required to treat 2 m3/s of
ambient air (viscosity, 18.25 x 10-6 Pa∙s; density, 1.2 kg/m3) laden with solids of
density 1000 kg/m3 at a suitable pressure drop and with a cut size of 4 µm. Use a
Stairmand HE (high Efficiency) cyclone for which Eu = 320 and Stk50 = 1.4 x 10-4.
Optimum pressure drop = 100 m gas

= 100 x 1.2 x 9.81 (Hρg)
= 1177 Pa
8
Solution
Characteristic velocity,
p
Eu 
 f v2
2
(1.2)v 2
320  1177
2
 v  2.476m / s
Diameter of the cyclone,

4q
v
(D 2 )
4(2)
2.476 
D 2
 D  1.014m
9
Solution (Cont.)
Cut size of this cyclone, 2
x50  pv
Stk 50 
18D
2
4 x50 (1000)( 2.476)
1.4  10 
18(18.25  10  6 )(1.014)
 4.34  10 6 m  4.34 m
This value is too high, we must therefore opt for passing the gas through several
smaller cyclones in parallel.
Assuming that n cyclones in parallel are required and that the total flow is evenly split,
therefore;
For each cyclone the flow rate will be: q  2 / n

10
Solution (Cont.)
New cyclone diameter: v
4q
(D 2 )
4(2 / n)
2.476 
D 2
 D  1.014
n
With and the required cut size we get:
2
x50  pv
Stk 50 
18D
(4  10 6 ) 2 (1000)( 2.476)
4
1.4  10 
18(18.25  10 6 )1.014 
 n
 n  1.386
11
Solution (Cont.)
We will therefore need two (2) cyclones.
D  1.014  1.014  0.717m
n 2
Recalculating the cyclone diameter,
Hence, the actual cut size,

2
x50  pv
Stk 50 
18D
2
4 x50 (1000)( 2.476)
1.4  10 
18(18.25  10 6 )(0.717)
 x50  3.65  10 6 m  x50  3.65m
Therefore, two 0.717 m diameter Stairmand HE cyclones in parrallel will be required

to give a cut size of 3.65 µm using pressure drop of 1177 Pa.
12
Class Example 2
Tests on a reverse flow gas cyclone give the results shown in the table below:
a) From these results determine the total efficiency of the cyclone.

b) Plot the grade efficiency curve and hence show that the x50 cut size is 10 µm.
13
Solution
a) From these test results:
Mass of feed: M = 10 + 15 + 25 + 30 + 15 + 5 = 100 g
Mass of coarse product: Mc = 0.1 + 3.53 + 18.0 + 27.3 + 14.63 + 5.0

= 68.56 g
M c 68.56
Therefore, total efficiency: ET    0.6856
M 100
14
Solution (Cont.)
M c dFc / dx dFc / dx
b) Grade efficiency is given by: G ( x)   ET
M dF / dx dF / dx
G(x) can be obtained directly from the results table as:

mc
G ( x) 
m
The grade efficiency data becomes:
Size Range (µm) 0-5 5-10 10-15 15-20 20-25 25-30

Range mean (µm) 2.5 7.5 12.5 17.5 22.5 27.5
G(x) 0.01 0.235 0.721 0.909 0.975 1
15
Solution (Cont.)
16
Stay safe, stay home, wash hands and/or use
hand sanitizer #COVID19.
17

Learning Unit 6 - Cyclones Continued

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Learning Unit 6 - Cyclones Continued

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Learning unit 6 – Circular motion of particles: Cyclones

• Perform the scale-up of a gas cyclone.

• Understand the range of operation for gas cyclones.

• Understand, in details, the practical design and operational details of

• Calculate the efficiency of a cyclone through the cut size phenomena.

Figure 1: Total separation efficiency and

Effect of Dust Loading on Efficiency

Stairmand High Efficiency

Stairmand High Rate

Optimum pressure drop = 100 m gas

Diameter of the cyclone,

For each cyclone the flow rate will be: q  2 / n

Recalculating the cyclone diameter,

Hence, the actual cut size,

Therefore, two 0.717 m diameter Stairmand HE cyclones in parrallel will be required

a) From these results determine the total efficiency of the cyclone.

Mass of coarse product: Mc = 0.1 + 3.53 + 18.0 + 27.3 + 14.63 + 5.0

G(x) can be obtained directly from the results table as:

Size Range (µm) 0-5 5-10 10-15 15-20 20-25 25-30

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