1
24-095
A Hydrodynamic Approach for Sizing and Selection of
Hydrocyclone—Parametric Scaling and Process Optimization
Swapnil Urankar
Weir EnSci, Weir Minerals India, Bangalore, India
Weir Advanced Research Centre, Glasgow, UK
Chandranth Banerjee
Weir EnSci, Weir Minerals India, Bangalore, India
Shashank Pathak
Weir EnSci, Weir Minerals India, Bangalore, India
Douglas Watson
Weir EnSci, Weir Minerals India, Bangalore, India
Debra Switzer
Weir Minerals North America, Madison, USA
Steven Hunter
Weir Minerals Africa, Isando, Johannesburg,
South Africa
ABSTRACT
A hydrocyclone is a piece of equipment commonly
used as a classifier in mill circuit operations. Traditionally,
hydrocyclone performance is characterized by the clas-
sification efficiency parameter, such as cut size (d50c),
sharpness of separation (α) and bypass (Rf). A plethora of
endeavors have already been made to develop parametric
models to determine hydrocyclone performance that cor-
relate design and process variables. In contrast to those
studies, we made an attempt to develop an approach to
derive required design parameters purely from hydrody-
namic principles that provides a platform to optimize the
operation of a hydrocyclone for a given application. In this
selection methodology, we calculated the differential pres-
sure at the air core, as well as the tangential velocity at the
boundary of the air core from the vortex principle in a con-
fined geometry at different operating regimes. A series of
experiments were conducted using Weir’s Cavex® hydrocy-
lone where process variables—such as solids concentration
and feed flowrates—were experimentally studied to deter-
mine the key classification parameters. For the validation
of the current approach we used the same process variables
to derive design parameters and compared them with the
existing design. The current approach can provide insights
towards the selection of design parameters and can be use-
ful for mining industry professionals to optimize different
operating parameters of hydrocyclones to achieve the best
performance.
INTRODUCTION
The hydrocyclone separator is a popular unit operating
in industrial processing it utilizes the incipient centrifugal
forces in the rotating fluid domain to separate suspended
particles. The solid- fluid mixture is introduced through the
inlet at high pressure that generates a swirling motion inside
the cyclone. Research towards understanding the inherent
flow behaviours of the fluid and the particles inside the
hydrocyclone have gained popularity amongst the numeri-
cal and experimental fluid mechanics communities [1–5].
However, industrial friendly mathematical models are
yet to be developed based on the existing research. Since the
physics of particle and fluid flow behaviour inside a hydro-
cyclone is still a complex aspect to realize, the empirical
models are normally used for evaluation of its performance.
Two frequently used models for predicting industrial
hydrocyclone performance are Plitt’s model
[6] and Nageswararao’s model [7]. Moreover, as the
models are empirical, the coefficients against each vari-
able have to be determined experimentally when either the
material to be processed or the basic design of hydrocyclone
are changed even marginally. As this is impractical in many
24-095
A Hydrodynamic Approach for Sizing and Selection of
Hydrocyclone—Parametric Scaling and Process Optimization
Swapnil Urankar
Weir EnSci, Weir Minerals India, Bangalore, India
Weir Advanced Research Centre, Glasgow, UK
Chandranth Banerjee
Weir EnSci, Weir Minerals India, Bangalore, India
Shashank Pathak
Weir EnSci, Weir Minerals India, Bangalore, India
Douglas Watson
Weir EnSci, Weir Minerals India, Bangalore, India
Debra Switzer
Weir Minerals North America, Madison, USA
Steven Hunter
Weir Minerals Africa, Isando, Johannesburg,
South Africa
ABSTRACT
A hydrocyclone is a piece of equipment commonly
used as a classifier in mill circuit operations. Traditionally,
hydrocyclone performance is characterized by the clas-
sification efficiency parameter, such as cut size (d50c),
sharpness of separation (α) and bypass (Rf). A plethora of
endeavors have already been made to develop parametric
models to determine hydrocyclone performance that cor-
relate design and process variables. In contrast to those
studies, we made an attempt to develop an approach to
derive required design parameters purely from hydrody-
namic principles that provides a platform to optimize the
operation of a hydrocyclone for a given application. In this
selection methodology, we calculated the differential pres-
sure at the air core, as well as the tangential velocity at the
boundary of the air core from the vortex principle in a con-
fined geometry at different operating regimes. A series of
experiments were conducted using Weir’s Cavex® hydrocy-
lone where process variables—such as solids concentration
and feed flowrates—were experimentally studied to deter-
mine the key classification parameters. For the validation
of the current approach we used the same process variables
to derive design parameters and compared them with the
existing design. The current approach can provide insights
towards the selection of design parameters and can be use-
ful for mining industry professionals to optimize different
operating parameters of hydrocyclones to achieve the best
performance.
INTRODUCTION
The hydrocyclone separator is a popular unit operating
in industrial processing it utilizes the incipient centrifugal
forces in the rotating fluid domain to separate suspended
particles. The solid- fluid mixture is introduced through the
inlet at high pressure that generates a swirling motion inside
the cyclone. Research towards understanding the inherent
flow behaviours of the fluid and the particles inside the
hydrocyclone have gained popularity amongst the numeri-
cal and experimental fluid mechanics communities [1–5].
However, industrial friendly mathematical models are
yet to be developed based on the existing research. Since the
physics of particle and fluid flow behaviour inside a hydro-
cyclone is still a complex aspect to realize, the empirical
models are normally used for evaluation of its performance.
Two frequently used models for predicting industrial
hydrocyclone performance are Plitt’s model
[6] and Nageswararao’s model [7]. Moreover, as the
models are empirical, the coefficients against each vari-
able have to be determined experimentally when either the
material to be processed or the basic design of hydrocyclone
are changed even marginally. As this is impractical in many