Experiments on the Pressure Drop in the Hydrocyclone

Abstract

The pressure drop in the hydrocyclone is an important factor along with its performance, since the pump used for the cyclone must be selected according to the pressure drop and also because the amount of necessary energy is dependent upon the pressure drop and the quantity of liquid. The author has measured the differences in pressure between the inlet and the overflow pipes under various operating conditions. The influences of the following factors on the pressure drop were investigated : (1) Feed inlet velocity v_i, (2) Diameters of vortex finder D_o, underflow nozzle D_u and cylindrical portion D, (3) Dimension of inlet nozzle √(bh), (4) Height of cyclone H, (5) Inserted length of vortex finder S, (6) Types of feeding and (7) Pulp density of feed slurries δ_f. From the results of his experiments, the author has shown that the pressure drop through the cyclone may be represented by the Eq. (4.2).