Numerical prediction of the liquid flow within a hydrocyclone

Modeling fluid behavior and droplet interactions during liquid–liquid separation in hydrocyclones

“…The simulation of the high-turbulent cyclone vortices requires the numerical solution of the basic equations of fluid dynamics combined with an adequate turbulence model. Turbulence effects are often characterized in a simplified manner by using the Prandtl mixing length model (Bloor and Ingham, 1975a,b;Pericleous and Rhodes, 1986;Davidson, 1988;Rajamani, 1988a,b, 1991;Rajamani and Devulapalli, 1994) or empirically modified k--models Roldán-Villasana et al, 1993;Malhotra et al, 1994;Dai et al, 1999;He et al, 1999;Statie et al, 2001Statie et al, , 2002Salcudean et al, 2003;Yang et al 2004). The Prandtl mixing length model relies on the basic assumption of turbulent equilibrium so the simulation results match the real flow conditions in a qualitative manner but there is a lack concerning a quantitative comparison between simulation results and experimental data.…”

Influence of geometric dimensions on the performance of a filtering hydrocyclone: an experimental and cfd study

“…The correct choice of turbulence model is a critical factor in capturing the anisotropic turbulent features of this flow, which is further complicated by the high streamline curvature. A widely used closure for the Reynolds stress is the k-ε model (Dai et al, 1999;Petty and Parks, 2001;Narasimha et al, 2005). The problem with this turbulence model is that it assumes isotropic turbulence and this condition appears not to hold for the flow inside a hydrocyclone.…”

CFD analysis of inlet chamber body profile effects on de-oiling hydrocyclone efficiency

“…Secondary flow consists of the side and end-wall circuit flow which bypasses the hydrocyclone without experiencing the primary flow, and also it contains the recirculation eddy that exists in the upper section and prevents inward radial flow across its boundaries (Devorak, 1989;Dai et al, 1998). The migration of droplets to central zone of the hydrocyclone can be avoided by recirculation eddies in inlet chamber, consequently with increasing the size of these vortex, the separation efficiency of hydrocyclone can be decreased.…”