Cyclone separator performance 1

[ghoshtathagata2000]

Hi,

Could anybody explain whether there the pressure drop would vary depending on the dust accumulated near the bottom in case the dust removal is not fast enough.

Is it possible to monitor the separation efficiency using a differential pressure instrument.

Thanks

 

[ash9144]

If your separator is accumulating solids then yes you're dP is going to increase. You are then using part of your separation area for storage of solids and restricting your flow. Differential pressure is very common measure of gas phase separation performance.

 

[maranathatech]

Cyclone pressure drop for a cyclone separator is usually measured from (air/material) inlet to air outlet. The material discharge does not effect the pressure drop, unless the cyclones "plugs up" and incoming material cannot drop out.
For monitoring efiiciency, the cyclone manufacturer should have specification on expected pressure drops at various air volumes across the particular cyclone. Install a magnehelic or photohelic pressure gauge across inlet/air outlet to monitor the desired pressure drop at highest efficiency.

 

[rmw]

Unless your build up got way up into the cone separation section, it shouldn't matter. The vortex isn't designed to go all the way to the outlet because if it did, it would re-intrain the dust trying to leave. There is, however, a point at which the vortex action would begin to be affected by the dust level in the bottom and that would hurt the efficiency more than the pressure drop.

rmw