HYDROCYCLONE

CLASSIFIER
HYDROCYCLONE CLASSIFIER

BY

MIGILLALI CLARY MUKWANDA

+263773744007
[email protected]
【 MCM ２０２０】 ©

INTRODUCTION
Last year I was contracted for two months
by one Mining Company in Mazoe to help
stabilise operations of a newly acquired
CIL plant.Talking of poor design the plant
left a lot to be desired.In order not to divert
from the tittle of this article I am not going
to delve into the whole plant set up but I
will talk about the home made cyclones
which I saw .The set up of the cyclones
defied any logic of cyclone operations.The
cyclone overflow elbow(infact it was not
an elbow) was a long pipe that extended
up higher for about 10 meters feeding into
a cone.Inorder to have the overflow
discharge the operators had to throttle the
underflow spigots.Consequently the
coarse material reported to the cyclone
overflow discharge.Often these long
overflow pipes used to chock.This poor
operation was caused by poor
design.Infact the cyclones were working
just like manifolds.As a result there was
too much settling of coarse solids in leach
tanks,chockage of pipes,poor leaching,
poor seperation of carbon and sands,
infact the whole operation was a nuisance.
Although the functions of the classifying
device and the mill in a grinding circuit are
quite different, the performance of each is
interrelated and should be viewed as a
single unit operation The performance of
the mill is influenced by the quantity and
quality of the circulating load being
returned to the mill. The performance of
the cyclone is influenced by the particle
size distribution of the mill discharge. The
net result of the unit operation is a
reduction in size of the new feed tonnage
from a prescribed top size to a desired
product size.Therefore it is important to
know the working principles of a cyclone.

CYCLONE

A hydrocyclone (often refered to by the

shortened form cyclone) is a device to
classify, separate or sort particles in a
liquid suspension based on the ratio of
their centripetal force to fluid resistance .
This ratio is high for dense (where
separation by density is required) and
coarse (where separation by size is
required) particles, and low for light and
fine particles.
Slurry enters the feed inlet at a designated
pressure and volume. Independent of the
shape or configuration of the inlet, slurry
follows the fall of the upper cylinder in a
rotating action. Resultant centrifugal
forces send coarser material to the outer
wall to travel downward and be further
accelerated in the conical sections. These
coarser fractions then exit through the
apex, or spigot, at the bottom of the
Hydrocyclone. Finer fractions remain
rotating with the fluid in the inner core and
are removed upward by an air core.
The air core is formed at the spigot/apex
as air is drawn in to the Hydrocyclone. The
vortex finder provides a pathway for the air
to exit the body of the Hydrocyclone. As
the air flows through the vortex finder, the
fluids and finer fractions are dragged
along to perform the classification of
materials. The air core is important for the
proper operation of the cyclone. If the air
core is not formed due to excessive solids
discharge, called roping, the cyclone will
not efficiently classify the slurry. The
apex/spigot is sized for the expect range
of solids. Significant process changes may
require a resizing in the spigot/apex.
Performance is influenced by the size of
the unit and its operating pressure, as well
as the inlet area, vortex finder diameter,
underflow and overflow diameters,
cylindrical sections and cone angle
A hydrocyclone will normally have a
cylindrical section at the top where liquid
is being fed tangentially, and a conical
base. The angle, and hence length of the
conical section, plays a role in determining
operating characteristics.
Hydrocyclones can be made of metal
(mostly steel), plastic (such as
polyurethane, polypropylene , or other
types). Metal hydrocyclones are used for
situations requiring more strength, or
durability in terms of pressure. When
there is an occurrence of much
abrasion (such as occurs with sand
particles) polyurethane performs better
than metals. Metal lined with polyurethane
is used in cases of combined abrasion and
high pressure.

PREFERANCE
Hydrocyclones are preferred units for
sizing or desliming large slurry volumes
cheaply and because they occupy very
little floor space or headroom. They
operate most effectively when fed at an
even flow rate and pulp density and are
used individually or in clusters to obtain
desired total capacities at required splits.
Sizing capabilities rely on centrifugal
forces generated by high tangential flow
velocities through the unit. The primary
vortex formed by the incoming slurry acts
spirall downwards around the inner cone
wall. Solids are flung outwards by
centrifugal force so that as the pulp moves
downwards its density increases. Vertical
components of the velocity act
downwards near the cone walls and
upwards near the axis.
The less dense centrifugally separated
slime fraction is forced upwards through
the vortex finder to pass out through the
opening at the upper end of the cone.

COMPONENTS
To understand the Hydrocyclone Working
Principle let me describe its components.
Beginning at the top, there is the:

OVERFLOW DISCHARGE.

The overflow of the cyclone is the exit

point for the fine material . Extending from
the overflow discharge into the body,
which is the feed entry point of the
cyclone, is the:

VORTEX FINDER.

This is simply a length of pipe, its purpose

is to provide a point of separation between
the coarse and fine material. A better
explanation will be possible once we begin
explaining how it works. Next in our list of
cyclones components is the:

UPPER and LOWER CONE

Not all hydrocyclones have this section

divided into two cones. Some are
designed this way to make repairs easier,
and to isolate wear points, Their function
is to help create a VORTEX.
This is done by guiding the slurry to the
underflow at the same time presenting a
smooth surface that will not restrict the
generation of the CENTRIFUGAL FORCE
that makes classification possible.
Connected to the lower cone is the :

APEX

The apex is the discharge point of the

cyclone, this discharge is referred to as the
UNDERFLOW. The material that exits at
this point will be the material that requires
further grinding. The last part of the
cyclone is the :

CYCLONE SKIRT

It is there only to limit spillage and

splashing it isn’t important to the
operation of the cyclone.

OPERATION THEORY
I would suppose you are asking yourself,
why and how does this piece of equipment
separate the different sizes of rock? To
answer that, we have to get into the
operational theory of the cyclone. To start
with, the slurry is directed into the cyclone
along the wall of the body. Due to the ore
being pumped, the slurry has VELOCITY. It
is this velocity and point of entry helps in
creating a spiral path around the outside
of the body, the upper and the lower cone.
The entrance to the cyclone was designed
this way to allow the incoming feed to help
generate and not interfere with the spiral
path that the ore must take inside the
cyclone. The centrifugal force (the central
Hydrocyclone Working Principle) that is
generated by this spin, forces the bigger
particles outwards towards the wall of the
cyclone. If you were able to do a cross
section of a cyclone while it is operating,
you could see that the ground rock will
become finer the closer that you get to the
centre of the cyclone.
It is the APEX at the bottom of the cyclone
that is the most responsible for creating
the spin required for the CENTRIFUGAL
SIZING of the slurry.
The centre of this spiral is called the
VORTEX. The purpose of the apex is to
cause internal pressure for the cyclone
and to create a vortex that extends all of
the way to the top of the cyclone.
In all hydrocyclones there are two outlets,
one for the coarse material, this is the
APEX whose attachment is the spigot, and
the other for the fine material, which is the
VORTEX FINDER. The purpose of the
Vortex finder is to separate the fine
material from the coarse as it spirals
around the vortex. The WIDTH of
the Vortex finder will determine how far
into the coarser material the separation
point will be.
The Volume of slurry that is being fed into
the cyclone must not exceed the capacity
of these two outlets that allow it to
escape. The size of the apex and the
vortex finder is crucial. If the apex of the
cyclone, like the size of the drain in your
sink, is made smaller it won’t allow as
much slurry out of the underflow of the
cyclone. This will cause the vortex to be
smaller the internal volume of the slurry
inside the cyclone will be greater and the
amount of material that the vortex finder
separates to become part of the overflow
will be increased.
As it is the DISTANCE across the vortex
finder that determines where in the vortex
the ore flow is separated at, the SIZE OF
THE APEX will determine the degree of
classification that the ore will be subjected
to.
The size of the apex in relationship with
the volume of slurry that is being fed to the
cyclone, will create and maintain the
PRESSURE NECESSARY to force the fine
material out of the cyclone. The greater
the pressure the greater the volume of
overflow. To increase the overflow requires
either a higher volume fed to the cyclone
or a smaller underflow discharge opening.
As the pressure in the cyclone climbs the
amount of coarser material in the overflow
increases. The reason that this pressure is
generated is because the volume of the
feed is greater than apex discharge
capacity. The pressure is generated as the
volume of slurry is built up over the apex.
These three factors then become your
operating Variables when dealing with
cyclones, APEX SIZE, the SIZE of the
VORTEX FINDER, and the VOLUME of the
feed. The CYCLONE PRESSURE becomes a
control indicator for the adjustment of the
apex size and the volume of the feed. The
vortex finder is a FIXED VARIABLE,
meaning that it can be changed to affect
the sizing of the overflow, but not as a
normal operating practice. The cyclone
must be removed from service and taken
apart to make that adjustment.
If the variables become unbalanced to the
point where the pressure is too high, the
cyclone will overload. What this means is
that when a vortex is generated, an air
column is formed in the center of the
vortex. If this air column collapses, the
velocity of the spiral will decrease far
enough to lose the centrifugal force that
causes the ore to classify. As the internal
pressure of the cyclone represents the
volume of slurry that is in the cyclone it
only follows that the reason that the air
column should collapse is that there isn’t
room left in the cyclone for the air.
If the variables become unbalanced in the
opposite extreme then there won’t be
enough pressure to cause an overflow.
Either the volume will be too low or the
apex size too large. This will result in all of
the feed being discharged out of the
underflow.
By what you have just learned it is
apparent that to maintain an even
pressure on the cyclone is very important.
If the cyclone is dependent on pressure to
function effectively then a constant
pressure would ensure positive control
over the classification of the ore. This
means the pump that feeds the
hydrocyclone is very important to the
effective working of that hydrocyclone.
 CONCLUSION
Good cyclone separation depends upon
control of pressure drop, pulp density and
apex size. The ‘pressure drop’ may vary
but should not change rapidly, and is held
at safe levels by keeping an adequate
sump level. A falling sump level causes
cavitation in the pump and reduction in
feed rate; pressure drop in the cyclone
falls and solids report increasingly to the
overflow until the drop approaches zero
and the entire slurry stream passes into
the underflow. Additionally, while
maintaining the required separation
parameters, the pressure drop should
always be minimised to minimise energy
losses, thus reducing pump and cyclone
wear.A cone-shaped discharge of 20°–30°
reduced angle usually produces optimum
conditions for separation. Cyclone control
is best obtained by optimising the feed
density. With consistent ore types the
cyclone feed density is a good indicator of
cyclone overflow sizing. A ropy cyclone
underflow indicates a very high-density
state with a risk of plugging the ‘apex’. If
control cannot be exercised either a larger
apex is needed, or the addition of another
cyclone.
Today I end here, I hope you have learnt a
lot on how a cyclone works.I will continue
teaching in order not to forget.{My next
article is❝DETERMINING THE SIZE OF A
CYCLONE❞ In shaAllah }

MIGILLALI CLARY MUKWANDA

【MCM ２０２０】
Migillali Clary Mukwanda is a qualified
metallurgical plant Technician with
extensive and comprehensive experience
in mineral processing and extractive
metallurgy.He can be contacted on
+263773744007 or +263718649312 or
email [email protected]