Effects of Exit Tube Diameter on the Flow Field in Cyclones

A number of cyclones with different exit tube diameters have been simulated with CFD in this study. Results show that the exit tube diameter influences not only the velocity magnitude, but also the shape of the velocity profiles within cyclones. Depending on the diameter of the exit tube, the axial velocity profiles can exhibit a either maximum or a minimum on the axis. If the exit tube diameter is small, the central flow has a jet-like appearance. On the other hand, axial velocity dip in the profile can be observed near the center in a cyclone with a large gas exit tube. In addition, the well-known double vortexes, which commonly are present in a cyclone of practical design, do not exist in a cyclone with an excessively large exit tube. Quantitative comparison of velocity distribution shows that the tangential velocity increases as the exit tube diameter is reduced, giving rise to higher particle collection efficiency. Usually, the pressure drop decreases with increasing exit tube diameter. However, if the exit tube size is excessively large, the pressure drop may start to increase. Practically, cyclone with an excessively large exit tube should be avoided.     

Gas-solid separation performance and structure optimization in 3D printed guide vane cyclone separator

Low separation efficiency and large pressure drop are two common problems of cyclones. In this paper, a 3D printed guide vane cyclone separator was designed to study the separation efficiency, turbulent kinetic energy, and particle movement of particle group by experiment and simulation. The results shown that the tangential velocity was the major influence of separating. The bottom of the exhaust pipe was the main region of gas–solid separation and pressure drop. The separation efficiency and pressure drop were positively correlated with the inlet velocity and the particle radius of the fluid. The distribution of turbulent kinetic energy that leaded to the pressure drop loss was concentrated on the inlet of the exhaust pipe. The swirl has external and internal two directions. The optimized cyclone has a longer and narrower blade flow path to obtain higher separation efficiency, especially at low inlet velocity.     

出口结构对双蜗壳式旋风分离器内流场的影响

用智能七孔球探针测试仪对不同出口结构的双蜗壳式旋风分离器内不同位置的三维速度及压力进行测量,从而获得不同结构参数对流场的影响。实验结果表明,排尘锥结构具有一定的稳流作用,有利于分离器的分离;分流型芯管的开缝有分流的作用,降低了芯管内的气流旋转强度,使上下行流都有所减少,旋风管中心附近以及边壁附近的切向速度都有所减小;分流型芯管的特有的缩口结构使不同截面上的切向速度的最大值都有所增加,距离缩口越近增加越强烈。     

高温高压旋风分离器流场模拟及性能试验

提出一种圆形径向进口、筒体段扩径的拱顶旋风分离器新结构;并与PV型分离器进行了流场和分离性能对比。结果表明:在相同处理气量下,新型分离器外旋流区切向速度显著大于PV型,中心涡核区轴向速度小于PV型;用中位粒径为9μm的滑石粉进行冷模试验,新型旋风分离器分离效率比PV型高约1%;新型旋风分离器结构强度和分离性能优良,适合高温、高压的工况下应用。     

旋转直流内循环式旋风分离器流场测定与分析(Ⅱ)

在流场测定的基础上，着重分析了旋转直流内循环式旋风分离器内三维速度分布和压力分布随入口气速的变化规律，回归了分离段切向速度计算的无因次经验方程，探求了压降性能的放大效应。结果表明该新型旋风分离器的流场规整，放大效应小，阻力系数比常用的反转式旋风分离器降低约30％。     

THEORY OF THE FRACTIONAL COLLECTION EFFICIENCY FOR THE AXIAL FLOW CYCLONE DUST COLLECTOR

A cyclone dust collector is a simple device with no moving parts, so it is applied in many industrial fields. However there is still no satisfied theory to estimate the collection efficiency for a given cyclone with high reliability since it is very difficult to predict the movement of the fine solid particles in the three dimensional turbulent rotational flows in the cyclone. A new model of the fractional collection efficiency including the diffusion effect of the solid particles and the decay effect of the tangential velocity of gas flow along the concave wall surface has been derived. In order to confirm this model, a simplified axial flow cyclone of body diameter D₁ = 99 mm has been constructed and fly-ash particles were used as a test dust. The experimental results of collection efficiency were compared those predicted by the Ogawa model and the Fuchs model.     

旋风分离器内三维强旋湍流流动数值模拟的修正压力应变项模型

针对旋风分离器内强旋流动的数值模拟,改进了雷诺应力方程压力应变项的IPCM+wall模型,加入到FLUENT6.0软件平台上。分别用修正的和标准的IPCM+wall模型、IPCM模型以及SSG模型,对蜗壳式旋风分离器内三维湍流流动进行了数值模拟,给出了分离空间和灰斗内的时平均速度和雷诺应力分量的分布,并用LDV测量结果加以检验。研究结果表明,修正的IPCM+wall模型对切向和轴向速度、切向和轴向正应力以及轴-切剪应力的预报值与实测值的吻合比其他压力应变项模型的好得多。     

旋风分离器减阻杆对流场的影响

在研究发现旋风分离器减阻杆的基础上，研究了减阻杆对流场的影响，发现了减阻杆使切向速度分布趋于平缓、轴向速度上升峰值内移、径向上压力梯度减小、轴向上中心区从逆压梯度变为顺压梯度等重要规律，从而为分析旋风分离器减阻杆的减阻机理提供了依据。同时本文还首次发现旋风分离器入口附近有近２４％的短路流量，提出设法减小这部分短路流量是提高分离效率的一个研究方向。     

RE-ENTRAINMENT OF DUSTS FROM THE DUST LAYER ON THE THE DEPOSITED DUSTS IN THE CYCLONE DUST COLLECTORS

There were many papers concerning the experimental results of the collection efficiency, but up to this time there are a few papers concerning the experimental results of the re-entrainment or dispersion of the dust particles from the dust layer by the turbulent rotational air flow in the dust bunker for the cyclone dust collector. Then in this paper, the author described the experimental results of the re-entrainment of the test dust ( talc X_R50 = 8.O µm ) for the four kinds of the throat diameter D₃ = 50, 80, 100 and 150 mm. Especially it is very importance to take into consideration of flow rate Qb into the dust bunker which is a function of D₃ and cyclone diameter D₁ and the maximum tangential velocity Vet in the dust bunker which depends on D₁,D₃ and Qb.     

The impact of cylinder vortex stabilizer on fluctuating turbulence characteristics of a cyclone separator based on Large Eddy Simulation

The main purpose of present study is to comprehensively clarify the impact of cylinder vortex stabilizer on fluctuating turbulence structure of a Stairmand cyclone separator on basis of Large Eddy Simulation. The cylinder vortex stabilizer is easy and could be applied to any existing cyclone model without any major replacement. This novel modification in cyclone body is considered to alleviate the negative effect of entrainment of particles from the ash hopper and swing of the vortex end in swirling flow. The numerical simulations were conducted based on Stairmand cyclone separator and three new models with variation of vortex stabilizer length and diameter. The results showed that the cylinder vortex stabilizer could enhance flow instability and improve fluctuating turbulence structure to some extent. It is confirmed that cylinder vortex stabilizer could significantly reduce the tangential velocity in the inner quasi-forced vortex region of the cyclones. Comparing with Stairmand cyclone, the swirling first and second peak frequency of cyclone model with vortex stabilizer (Length L/D: 6.5, diameter d/D: 0.12) have been confirmed to get considerable reduction of 11.54% and 10.86%, respectively. This modified cyclone model is comparatively better for enhancement of flow stability, providing about 18.4% maximum reduction of normalized flow angle, 24.8% of rotational kinetic energy in dust collector and 14.2% in the main body of cyclone.     

Modeling Performance of a Tangential Flow Cyclone: Effects of Secondary Outlet Geometry and Boundary Conditions

Numerical calculation of the performance of cyclones for gas-particle separation is becoming a popular tool for cyclone analysis and design. A traditionally accepted way to treat these problems is by solving the flow field and particle transport equations in the spatial domain (C1) limited by the inlet and overflow outlet cross-sections, where the flow is usually assumed fully developed, and the dust outlet cross-section. Formulation of the boundary conditions for the flow and particles’ transport at the dust outlet cross-section remains an open question. We address this problem numerically by comparing results of calculations performed by the above traditional approach, i.e., treating the problem in configuration C1, as well as in extended domains, namely those including a dust collecting bin (configuration C2) and a downcomer tubular outlet (configuration C3). Two boundary conditions at the downflow outlet were checked for each configuration, namely, a blocked outlet (zero velocity) and an open outlet (zero gas flow rate). Toward this goal, an efficient computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model of turbulent flow based on the Reynolds Stress turbulent closure scheme was developed, validated, and used to calculate velocity field and the pressure drop as well as particle cut size and separation efficiency in several Stairmand-type tangential flow cyclones. The results were tested and corroborated against the experimental data reported in the literature, including careful measurements performed by Gottschalk and Bohnet (1995 Gottschalk , O. , and M. Bohnet . 1995 . Two stage circuit for the separation of fine particles. PARTEC 95, Europ. Symposium on Separation of Particles from Gases, Nurnberg, March.  [Google Scholar], 1998 Gottschalk , O. , and M. Bohnet . 1998 . Calculation of grade efficiency and pressure drop of aerocyclones with suction of partial gas stream. PARTEC 98, European Symposium Separation of Particles from Gases, Nurnberg, March.  [Google Scholar]) for a 225 mm tangential flow cyclone, with downflow outlet connected to a tubular extension.

Particle separation in the traditional C1 cyclone configuration was shown to be most sensitive with respect to the choice of the boundary conditions at the downflow outlet, whereas with the dust outlet connected to a bin (C3 configuration) this condition has a much weaker effect on the fractional efficiency. Solutions for the C1 and C2 configurations, both combined with the blocked downflow outlet boundary condition yielded the cyclone's pressure drop in agreement with the Gottschalk and Bohnet's data. However, C2 configuration which contained a downcomer tubular extension was found preferable for correlating the measured fractional efficiency.     

Effect of the inlet angle on the performance of a cyclone separator using CFD-DEM

Hydrodynamic characteristics in a cyclone separator are simulated by means of DEM-CFD. Reynolds stress turbulence model (RSM) is used to capture gas turbulence. By changing the inlet angle, the distributions of pressure drop, tangential and axial velocity of gas phase are obtained within the cyclone. Simulated results indicate that the flow pattern consists of two regions: loss-free vortex region and forced vortex region. The negative inlet angle brings about a larger pressure drop comparing to positive inlet angle. The separation efficiency and trajectory of particles from simulation are obtained. The effects of inlet angle and particle size on separation efficiency are quantified. The separation efficiency is increased with an increase of particle size, while the separation efficiency firstly increases and then declined as inlet angle changes from negative to positive. An agreement between the numerical simulation and experimental results has been achieved in a cyclone separator.     

三维旋转流场特征与压力损失关系的研究

本文以Stairmand高效旋风分离器为实验模型，利用五孔球形探针测试了典型三维旋转流动的速度和压力分布。并结合减阻杆的研究发现，测试了安装不同类型减阻杆后速度和压力分布的变化，从而在分析减阻杆减阻机理的同时，认识了三维旋转流场特征与压力损失的关系。     

DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR CYCLONE IMPROVEMENT

There is a potential for improving cyclone separators by design and operating conditions. Secondary flow detrimental to dust separation can be avoided by proper gas inlets, dimensioning of body and swirl, or by use of a flow guide in the area of separation. Cyclone and bin are to be treated as one unit. Scavenging of the bin is most effective for high effiency. Cut sizes smaller than 1 μm can be realized with a cyclone separator unit consisting of a preseparator, a battery of small cyclones, and a scavenging cyclone with gas recirculation. Such arrangements are capable to cope with dust streaks and to make positive use of dust agglomeration. These principles are applicable also for big cyclone batteries as used behind rotary dryers for wood chips, etc.     

Experimental and CFD study on effects of spiral guide vanes on cyclone performance

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study on a tangential inlet cyclone separator with a spiral guide vane which is not often researched. Numerical pressure drop results were in close agreement with the experimental data. The spiral guide vane was also found to considerably influence the velocity distribution, turbulence intensity, pressure drop and collection efficiency in the cyclone. A critical value of spiral guide vane turns appeared below or above which there was a marked increase in collection efficiency, pressure drop, and tangential velocity. Compared to a cyclone with zero spiral guide vane turn, the maximal decrease in collection efficiency in the cyclone with the critical spiral guide vane turns (one turn) was 2% approximately. The maximum-efficiency inlet velocity appeared to exist independent of spiral guide vane turns, as inlet velocity affected the radial distance traveled by the rebounded particles from the inner wall. The analysis of flow field in cyclones indicated that the flow field was improved with the spiral guide vanes employed to some extent. The results presented here may provide a workable reference for the effects of spiral guide vanes on the flow field and corresponding performance in cyclone separators.     

DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR CYCLONE IMPROVEMENT

ABSTRACT

There is a potential for improving cyclone separators by design and operating conditions. Secondary flow detrimental to dust separation can be avoided by proper gas inlets, dimensioning of body and swirl, or by use of a flow guide in the area of separation. Cyclone and bin are to be treated as one unit. Scavenging of the bin is most effective for high effiency. Cut sizes smaller than 1 μm can be realized with a cyclone separator unit consisting of a preseparator, a battery of small cyclones, and a scavenging cyclone with gas recirculation. Such arrangements are capable to cope with dust streaks and to make positive use of dust agglomeration. These principles are applicable also for big cyclone batteries as used behind rotary dryers for wood chips, etc.     

Numerical study of flow field in new design cyclones with different wall temperature profiles: Comparison with conventional ones

In this paper, numerical study of flow field in the new design cyclones with five different wall temperature profiles are investigated. The new design cyclone is based on the idea of improving cyclone collection efficiency and pressure drop by increasing the vortex length. In this paper, the five wall temperature profiles are as follows: (A) cooling with uniform distribution, (B) without temperature change, (C) heating with uniform distribution, (D) incremental linear heating, (E) reduction linear heating. Results are compared in new design and conventional cyclones. The Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations with Reynolds stress turbulence model (RSM) are solved. The Eulerian-Lagrangian computational procedure is used to predict particles tracking in the cyclones. The velocity fluctuations are simulated using the Discrete Random Walk (DRW).Results show that generally, heating the bottom zone of the cyclones can improve the collection efficiency and reduce the pressure drop while heating the top zone of the cyclones marginally affects the flow field. Moreover, cooling the cyclones reduces the efficiency and causes a higher pressure drop. Among five different wall temperature profiles, C and E profiles can increase the efficiency about 8% and profile C reduces the pressure drop by about 9%. The mentioned values in different conditions including particle diameter, flow rate, etc. can be different.     

Exploratory Study on Cyclones of Modified Designs

This paper introduces a new design of cyclone, named triple cyclone, created by adding two more cylinders to the conventional cyclone. The performance of the triple cyclone was evaluated systematically together with the previously reported double cyclone. The tests showed that the collection efficiencies of double and triple cyclones were lower than those of the conventional cyclone with the same body diameter and identical gas inlet and outlet size. Of the three designs, the collection efficiency of the triple cyclone was the lowest. Accordingly, the highest pressure drop was observed for the conventional cyclone, and the pressure drop for the triple cyclone was the lowest. These results are probably attributed to the relatively weak vortices formed within triple and double cyclones.     

灰斗抽气对旋风分离器分离性能影响数值模拟研究

 利用计算流体动力学软件FLUENT对旋风分离器内气固两相流动特性进行三维数值模拟,模拟气相流场采用雷诺应力模型,应用随机轨道模型模拟湍流流场中颗粒的运动轨迹,同时给出了不同抽气率下旋风分离器的速度、压力分布,计算出旋风器分级效率,模拟结果与文献实验数据吻合较好.结果表明,灰斗抽气可以提高锥体内旋转气流切向速度,轴向速度减少能够降低气流携带颗粒返混能力,并减小排气芯管下口短路流,提高旋风分离器分离效率.对于给定的旋风分离器,抽气率应有一最优值.     

Experimental and numerical study of a horizontal-vertical gas-solid two-phase system with self-excited oscillatory flow

To better explore the energy-saving mechanism and flow characteristics of the self-excited oscillatory flow, the experiment is performed by a new self-excited oscillatory flow generator that the 45° oblique sheet is mounted through the pipe axis in a horizontal-vertical closed pneumatic conveying system. The experimental study focuses on the optimum air-velocity and power consumption, and results shows the maximum reduction of the optimum air-velocity and the coefficient of power consumption are approximately 8.2% and 16.4%, respectively. In addition, the CFD-DEM coupled approach is first developed to investigate the interaction of gas-solid flow in terms of the gas turbulent kinetic energy and spatial particle flow characteristics. Compared with the conventional pneumatic conveying, it is found that the optimum air-velocity and power consumption are reduced by the new self-excited oscillatory flow at lower air-velocities. The numerical results show that the approximately symmetric distribution of axial velocity and the intensive tangential velocity is emerged in the self-excited oscillatory flow at upstream. Particles is efficiently dispersed and suspended by the self-exited oscillatory flow reflecting in the smaller particle variation coefficient and the lager particle suspension coefficient. And since the airflow kinetic energy is utilized more fully to promote particles flowing, the spatial particle axial velocity is accelerated and reached early steady state. As a result, the developed numerical model is further explained the mechanism of energy saving with the self-excited oscillatory flow.