Abstract
Gas–solid cyclone separators are widely utilized in many industrial applications and usually involve complex multi-physics of gas–solid flow and heat transfer. In recent years, there has been a progressive interest in the application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to understand the gas–solid flow behavior of cyclones and predict their performance. In this paper, a review of the existing CFD studies of cyclone separators, operating in a wide range of solids loadings and at ambient and elevated temperatures, is presented. In the first part, a brief background on the important performance parameters of cyclones, namely pressure drop and separation efficiency, as well as how they are affected by the solids loading and operating temperature, is described. This is followed by a summary of the existing CFD simulation studies of cyclones at ambient temperature, with an emphasis on the high mass loading of particles, and at elevated temperatures. The capabilities as well as the challenges and limitations of the existing CFD approaches in predicting the performance of cyclones operating in such conditions are evaluated. Finally, an outlook on the prospects of CFD simulation of cyclone separators is provided.
Highlights
Gas–solid cyclones are frequently used in industrial processes with the primary purpose of two–phase flow separation, i.e., separation of a high-density phase from a lower-density carrier phase, using a turbulent swirling flow
The existing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation studies of reversed-flow cyclone separators operating at ambient temperature are discussed and categorized based on the gas–solid coupling regime of the operating cyclone
The Reynolds stress transport model (RSTM) is favorable over other turbulence models with respect to accuracy and computational overhead
Summary
Gas–solid cyclones are frequently used in industrial processes with the primary purpose of two–phase flow separation, i.e., separation of a high-density phase from a lower-density carrier phase, using a turbulent swirling flow. The state-of-the-art industrial cyclone designs are able to operate at elevated temperatures and moderate-to-high loading of solids, while at the same time meeting the required separation efficiency and having low investment and maintenance costs This has led to the frequent use of cyclones as the only/initial stage of separation and cleaning processes rather than other industrial separators, e.g., bag filters, electrostatic separators, etc. The presence of strong swirl and anisotropic turbulent flow as well as adverse pressure gradients in the cyclones has driven the CFD simulation studies to use more advanced turbulence models, e.g., the Reynolds stress transport model (RSTM) and large eddy simulation (LES), as well as higher-order discretization techniques, that are capable of capturing these specific flow physics These models/techniques, are computationally demanding compared to the more commonly used models, e.g., k–e. The important sub-models utilized as well as specific challenges that may be encountered in such CFD simulations are addressed
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