cyclone

A cyclone is a common separation and classification device that utilizes the principle of centrifugal sedimentation. When the two-phase mixture to be separated enters the cyclone tangentially from its periphery at a certain pressure, intense three-dimensional elliptical, highly rotating shear turbulent flow is generated. Due to the difference in particle size between coarse and fine particles, they are subjected to different forces such as centrifugal force, centripetal buoyancy, and fluid drag. As a result of centrifugal sedimentation, most of the coarse particles are discharged through the underflow port of the cyclone, while most of the fine particles are discharged through the overflow pipe, thereby achieving the purpose of separation and classification.

The basic principle of a cyclone is to separate two-phase or multi-phase mixtures such as liquid-liquid, liquid-solid, or liquid-gas systems, which have a certain density difference, under the action of centrifugal force. The mixture is introduced tangentially into the cyclone at a certain pressure, generating a high-speed rotating flow field within the cylindrical chamber. Under the action of the swirl field, the components with higher density in the mixture move downward along the axial direction as well as outward radially; upon reaching the conical section, they move downward along the wall of the device and are discharged through the bottom outlet, thus creating an outer swirl field. The components with lower density move toward the central axis, forming an inner vortex that moves upward at the center of the axis, and they are then discharged through the overflow outlet, thereby achieving phase separation.