Vortex finder diameter and depth effects on the separation performance of hydrocyclone

This study performed the numerical simulation of the vortex finder (VF) diameter and depth effects on the separation performance of the hydrocyclone-type devices for multiphase fluid separation, namely the static pressure, pressure drop, split ratio, short-circuit flow, velocity field, and classification accuracy. The static pressure, pressure drop, and split ratio were found to be negatively related to the VF diameter. As the VF diameter increased from 0.26D2 to 0.56D2, the maximum static pressure dropped from 94483.56 to 26067.86 Pa, and the pressure drop was reduced from 93336.50 to 26408.69 Pa. Meanwhile, the steepness index increased with the VF diameter in a particular range. The results strongly indicated that an increased VF diameter led to reduced energy consumption and improved separation accuracy of the hydrocyclone, decreasing the tangential velocity, increasing the short-circuit flow, and disrupting the symmetry of the locus of zero vertical velocity (LZVV). The effects of the VF depth on the separation performance were as follows: with increasing VF depth, short-circuit flow and split ratio decreased, the steepness index increased within a specific range, and the symmetry of the LZVV gradually improved. This implies that increased VF depths can help enhance the separation performance of the hydrocyclone but excessively large VF depths would deteriorate it.& COPY; 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creative commons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).