Effect of local erosion on the flow field and separation performance of the cyclone separator

Abstract

In this work, the effect of the local wall erosion on the performance of the cyclone separator was investigated using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique. The Oka erosion model was used to predict of the cyclone erosion. The variation of gas flow field and discrete phase under different wall erosion wear thickness was evaluated by using the validated model. The results reveal that local wall erosion significantly affects the airflow behavior and performance in cyclone separators. With the increase in wall erosion thickness, the pressure drop and the separation efficiency decreases. Meantime, with the increase in local wall erosion, the interaction between secondary flows becomes more closely, the phenomenon of the fine particles escape from the vortex finder becomes more obvious, and the movement track of coarse particles tends to coincide, making it easier to form high concentration ash ring to aggravate wall wear. • The key parts of geometrical structure deformation caused by particle erosion in the cyclone separator were introduced. • The erosion thickness affects the stability of flow field in the cyclone separator was investigated. • The erosion thickness affects the paths of particles with different particle sizes in the cyclone separator was investigated. • The erosion thickness affects the pressure drop and separation efficiency in the cyclone separator was investigated.