Performance of Liquid-Liquid Cyclones

Abstract

The ability of two small cyclones to separate Freon drops from water and from an ice-brine slurry was measured for various flow rates and drop sizes. A theory developed for solid-liquid extraction was used to predict separation efficiencies, based on drop size distributions measured in the feed. For the larger cyclone, agreement between theory and experiment was good. For the smaller one, the data fell below the theory. This was attributed largely to drop breakup within the cyclone.

Oil-Water Separation in Liquid-Liquid Hydrocyclones (LLHC)–Experiment and Modeling

“…Johnson et al (1976) studied the ability of two small cyclones to separate Freon drops from water. Utilizing a theory developed for solid-solid extraction, they developed a correlation based on droplet size distribution to predict liquid-liquid separation efficiencies.…”

Use of Coalescers and Settling Tubes to Remove Dispersed Liquid

“…A summary of the results of gravity decanting tests conducted using a 180 cm long, 5 cm diameter horizontal plexiglass settling tube is shown in Table I. As discussed elsewhere (Johnson et al, 1976), a dispersion of Freon 113 in water at room temperature is prepared in a mixing tank. The mixture was pumped through the settling tube by a lobe-type pump and samples were collected in calibrated tubes from the feed, overflow, and underflow.…”

“…There are many applications involving the separation of a dispersed liquid from the continuous phase. One of these is recovery of unevaporated refrigerant in a secondary refrigerant freezing process for water purification (Johnson et al, 1976). This was the primary motivation for the experiments described herein.…”