Separation mechanism and performance of hydrocyclone with media size redistribution

Hydrocyclones have the advantages of fast separation speed, simple structure, small footprint, and convenient operation/maintenance, resulting in satisfactory separation performance and wide applications. However, conventional hydrocyclones are incapable of separating fine particles or droplets. A hydrocyclone with media-size redistribution (HMSR) was designed and studied to alleviate this shortcoming. The overall separation efficiency of the hydrocyclone could be improved by this design. Based on theory analysis and numerical simulation, the redistribution mechanism of redistributed inlet (RI) was studied, the flow characteristics in RI and the redistribution effect were obtained and verified by using the population balance model during simulations, and RI with 90 degrees bent pipe was found to have the optimal redistribution efficiency. By comparing the other two kinds of hydrocyclones, the separation efficiency of HMSR (RI with 90 degrees bent pipe) can be increased by 11.57%. Additionally, the smaller the feed oil droplet size set, the better the improvement effect of separation efficiency. The design of HMSR is expected to provide a new idea for separating fine particles or droplets.