Week # 11

MR Chapters 9 & 10
Tutorial #11
MR #9.1, 10.1.
To be discussed on Apr 3,
2013.
By either volunteer or
class list.

MARTIN RHODES (2008)

Introduction to Particle
Technology, 2nd Edition.
Publisher John Wiley & Son,
Chichester, West Sussex,
England.

Gas Cyclones
During processing and handling of particulate solids, separation of
particles from suspension in a gas may be required
Generally, particles larger than about 100 m can be separated by
gravity settling
For particles less than 100 m, more energy intensive methods
such as filtration, wet scrubbing and electrostatic precipitation
must be used
Gas cyclones are best suited as primary separation devices and
for relatively coarse particles
Electrostatic precipitator or fabric filter may be used downstream
to remove very fine particles
Gas cyclones are generally not suitable for separation involving
suspensions with a large proportion of particles less than 10 m

 Most common type of cyclone is

known as reverse flow cyclone
separator
Inlet gas is brought tangentially
into the cylindrical section
A strong vortex is created inside
the cyclone body
Particles in the gas are subjected
to centrifugal forces which move
them radially outwards, against
the inward flow of gas and
towards the inside surface of the
cyclone
Direction of vortex flow reverses
near the bottom of the cylindrical
section
Gas leaves the cyclone via the
outlet in the top
Solids at the wall are pushed
downwards by the outer vortex
and out of the solids exit
Gravity has been shown to have
little effect on the operation of the
cyclone

Flow Characteristics
Rotational flow in the forced vortex within the cyclone body gives
rise to a radial pressure gradient
This pressure gradient, combined with the frictional pressure losses
at the gas inlet and outlet and losses due to changes in flow
direction, make up the total pressure drop
Pressure drop, measured between the inlet and gas outlet, is
usually proportional to the square of gas flow rate through the
cyclone
A resistance coefficient, the Euler number Eu, relates the cyclone
pressure drop p to a characteristic velocity:

Where f is the gas density

The characteristic velocity v can be defined based on the crosssection of the cylindrical body of the cyclone

Where q is the gas flow rate and D is the cyclone inside diameter
The Euler number represents the ratio of pressure forces to the
inertial forces acting on a fluid element
Value is practically constant for a given cyclone geometry,
independent of the cyclone body diameter

Efficiency of Separation
Consider a cyclone to which solids mass flow rate is M,
mass flow discharged from the solids exit orifice is Mc
(known as the coarse product) and solids mass flow rate
leaving with the gas is Mf (known as the fine product)
Total material balance on the solids may be written:
Component material balance for each particle size x
(assuming no breakage or growth of particles within the
cyclone):
Where dF/dx, dFf/dx and dFc/dx are the differential
frequency size distributions by mass (mass fraction of
size x) for the feed, fine product and coarse product
respectively

 Total efficiency of separation of particles from gas, ET, is

defined as the fraction of the total feed which appears in
the coarse product collected
The efficiency with which the cyclone collects particles of
a certain size is described by the grade efficiency, G(x):
Using the notation for size distribution described above:
Combine to find an expression linking grade efficiency
with total efficiency of separation

Above equation relates size distribution of feed, coarse

product and fine product
In cumulative form, this becomes

 Consider a reverse flow

cyclone with a cylindrical
section of radius R
Particles entering the
cyclone with the gas stream
are forced into circular
motion
The net flow of gas is
radially inwards towards the
central gas outlet
The forces acting on a
particle following a circular
path are drag, buoyancy and
centrifugal force
The balance between these
forces determines the
equilibrium orbit adopted by
the particle
Drag force is caused by the
inward flow of gas part the
particle and acts radially
inwards

 Consider a particle of diameter x and density p following

an orbit of radius r in a gas of density f and viscosity
Let the tangential velocity of the particle be U and the
radial inward velocity of the gas be Ur
If we assume that Stokes law applies under these
conditions then the drag force is given by:
The centrifugal and buoyancy forces acting on the
particle moving with a tangential velocity component U
at radius r are,

Under the action of these forces, the particle moves

inwards or outwards until the forces are balanced and
the particle assumes its equilibrium orbit

 A relationship between U and the radius r for the vortex

in a cyclone is needed
For a rotating solid body, U = r, where is the angular
velocity and for a free vortex Ur = constant
For the confined vortex inside the cyclone body, it has
been found experimentally that the following holds
approximately:

If we also assume uniform flow of gas towards the central

outlet,

Combining,
Where r is the radius of the equilibrium orbit for a particle
of diameter x

If we assume that all particles with an equilibrium orbit radius

greater than or equal to the cyclone body radius will be collected,
Then substituting r = R, we derive the expression below for the
critical particle diameter for separation, xcrit:
Values of the radial and tangential velocity components at the
cyclone wall, UR and UR, may be found from a knowledge of
cyclone geometry and gas flow rate
This analysis predicts an ideal grade efficiency curve
All particles of diameter xcrit and greater are collected
All particles of size less than xcrit are not collected

 In practice, gas velocity fluctuations and particle-particle

interactions result in some particles larger than xcrit being
lost and some particles smaller than xcrit being collected
Consequently, the cyclone does not achieve such a
sharp cut-off as predicted by the theoretical analysis
Grade efficiency curve for gas cyclones is usually Sshaped
Particle size for which the grade efficiency is 50%, x50, is
often used as a single number measurement of the
efficiency of the cyclone
x50 is also known as the equiprobable size since it is that
size of particle which as a 50% probability of appearing
the in the coarse product
In a large population, 50% of the particles of this size will
appear in the coarse product
x50 is sometimes simply referred to as the cut size of the
cyclone

Scale-Up of Cyclones
Scale-up of cyclones is based on a dimensionless group,
the Stokes number
Characterizes the separation performance of a family of
geometrically similar cyclones
Stokes number Stk50 is defined as:
Where is gas viscosity, p is solids density, v is the
characteristic velocity and D is the diameter of the
cyclone body
Physical significance of the Stokes number is that it is a
ratio of the centrifugal force (less buoyancy) to the drag
force, both acting on a particle of size x50
For large industrial cyclones the Stokes number, like the
Euler number, is independent of Reynolds number

Range of Operation
For a particular cyclone and inlet particle concentration,
total efficiency of separation and pressure drop vary with
gas flow rate as follows:

Theory predicts that efficiency increases with increasing

gas flow rate
In practice, total efficiency curve falls away at high flow
rates because re-entrainment of separated solids
increases with increased turbulence at high velocities

 Optimum operation is achieved somewhere between

points A and B, where maximum total separation
efficiency is achieved with reasonable pressure loss
Position of point B changes only slightly for different
dusts
Correctly designed and operated cyclones should
operate at pressure drops within a recommended range
For most cyclone designs operated at ambient
conditions, this is between 500 to 1500 Pa
Within this range, total separation efficiency ET increases
with applied pressure drop
Above the top limit the total efficiency no longer
increases with increasing pressure drop and it may
actually decline due to re-entrainment of dust from the
dust outlet orifice
It is therefore wasteful of energy to operate cyclones
above the limit

Storage and Flow of Powders

In perfect mass flow, all the

powder in a silo is in motion
whenever any of it is draw
from the outlet
The flowing channel coincides
with the walls of the silo
Core flow occurs when the
powder flows towards the
outlet in a channel formed
within the powder itself
Regions of powder lower down
in the hopper are stagnant until
the hopper is almost empty

 In mass flow, motion of powder is uniform and steady

state can be closely approximated
Bulk density of the discharged powder is constant and
practically independent of silo height
Stresses are generally low throughout the mass of
solids, giving low compaction of the powder
No stagnant regions in the mass flow hopper
Risk of product degradation is small compared with core
flow
First-in-first-out flow pattern of mass flow hopper ensures
narrow range of residence times for solids in the silo
Segregation of particles according to size is less of a
problem
Friction between moving solids and hopper walls results
in erosion of the wall, which gives rise to contamination
of the solids by material of the hopper wall

 For conical hoppers, the slope angle required to ensure

mass flow depends on the powder-powder friction and
the powder-wall friction
A hopper which gives mass flow with one powder may
give core flow with another
In general, powders develop strength under the action of
compacting stresses
The greater the compacting stress, the greater the
strength developed

 Gravity flow of a solid in a channel will take place

provided the strength developed by the solids under the
action of consolidating pressures is insufficient to support
an obstruction to flow
An arch occurs when the strength developed by the
solids is greater than the stresses acting within the
surface of the arch

 The hopper flow factor, ff, relates the stress developed in

a particulate solid with the compacting stress acting in a
particular hopper

A high value of ff means low flowability since high C

means greater compaction
A low value of D means more chance of an arch forming
Hopper flow factor depends on:
Nature of the solid, nature of the wall material, slope of
the hopper wall

 Suppose that the yield stress (stress which causes flow) of the
powder in the exposed surface of the arch is y
This stress is known as the unconfined yield stress of the
powder
If stresses developed in the powder forming the arch are
greater than the unconfined yield stress, flow will occur:
This criterion may be rewritten as:

The unconfined yield stress, y, of the solids varies with

compacting stress, C

This relationship is called the powder flow function and is a

function only of the powder properties

The limiting condition for flow is:

This may be plotted on the same

axes as the powder flow function
to reveal the conditions under
which flow will occur for this
powder in the hopper
The limiting condition gives a
straight line of slope 1/ff
Where the powder has a yield
stress greater than C/ff, no flow
occurs
Where the powder has a yield
stress less than C/ff, flow occurs
For powder flow function (b), there
is a critical condition where
unconfined yield stress, y, is
equal to stress developed in the
powder, C/ff
This gives rise to a critical value of
stress, crit, which is the critical
stress developed in the surface of
the arch

 The stress developed in the arch increases with the span

of the arch and the weight of solids in the arch
Stress developed in the arch is related to the size of the
hopper outlet, B, and the bulk density, B, of the material:

Where H() is a factor determined by the slope of the

hopper wall and g is the acceleration due to gravity
An approximate expression for H() for conical hoppers
is:

 The following are required for design for ensuring mass

flow from a conical hopper:
(1) relationship between strength of powder in the arch,
y (unconfined yield stress) with compacting stress
acting on the powder, C
(2) variation of hopper flow factor, ff, with: nature of the
powder (characterized by effective angle of internal
friction, ), nature of the hopper wall (characterized by
angle of wall friction, W), slope of hopper wall
(characterized by semi-included angle of conical section,
or angle between sloping hopper wall and vertical)
Hopper flow factor is therefore a function of powder
properties and hopper properties
Knowing the hopper flow factor and powder flow
function, critical stress in the arch can be determined
and minimum size of outlet found corresponding to this
stress

Mohrs circle represents the

possible combinations of normal
and shear stresses acting on any
plane in a body under stress
Mohrs circle construction gives
the unconfined yield stress, y
and compacting stress C
Experiments have demonstrated
that for an element of powder
flowing in a hopper:

This property of bulk solids is

expressed by the relationship:

Where is the effective angle of

internal friction of the solid

 To examine the variation

of stress exerted on the
base of a bin with
increasing depth of
powder
Assume that powder is
non-cohesive
Consider a slice of
thickness H at a depth H
below the surface of the
powder
Downward force is

Where D is the bin

diameter and v is the
stress acting on the top
surface of the slice

 Assuming stress increases with depth, reaction of powder

below the slice acts upwards and is
The net upward force on the slice is then
If the stress exerted on the wall by the powder in the slice is
h and the wall friction is tan W, then the friction force
(upwards) on the slice is
The gravitational force on the slice is

Where B is the bulk density of the powder, assumed to be

constant throughout the powder (independent of depth)
If the slice is in equilibrium the upward and downward forces
are equal

 If we assume that horizontal stress is proportional to

vertical stress and does not vary with depth,
As H tends to zero,

Integrating,
If in general, the stress acting on the surface of the
powder is vo (at H = 0) the result is

If there is no force acting on the free surface of the

powder, vo = 0

When H is very small

Equivalent to the static pressure at

a depth H in fluid density B
When H is large,

And so vertical stress developed

becomes independent of depth of
powder above
Contrary to intuition, force exerted
by a bed of powder becomes
independent of depth if the bed is
deep enough
Hence most of the weight of the
powder is supported by the walls
of the bin
In practice, the stress becomes
independent of depth (and
independent of any load applied to
the powder surface) beyond a
depth of about 4D

 Rate of discharge of powder from an orifice at the base

of a bin is found to be independent of depth of powder
unless the bin is nearly empty
Observation for a static powder that pressure exerted by
the powder is independent of depth for large depths is
also true for a dynamic system
Confirms that fluid flow theory cannot be applied to the
flow of a powder
For flow through an orifice in the flat-based cylinder,
experiment shows that:
Where a is a correction factor dependent on particle size
For cohesionless coarse particles free falling over a
distance h, their velocity neglecting drag and interaction,
will be
If these particles are flowing at a bulk density B through
a circular orifice of diameter B, then the theoretical mass
flow rate will be: