Effects of the operating parameters on the separation results of a three-stage cone water-only cyclone

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this study, a three-level Box-Behnken design of experiments coupled with response surface methodology was applied to investigate the effects of the operating parameters (solid content of the feed, feed pressure and insertion depth of the vortex finder) on the separation results (ash content and yield of the overflow) of a three-stage cone water-only cyclone. The results showed that the solid content of the feed and insertion depth of the vortex finder impacted the ash content and yield of the overflow positively, while the feed pressure behaved negative affection. The reasons behind the operating parameters as they affected the separation results were explained via simulations. Then, the effects of the interactions of the feed pressure and solid content of the feed on the separation results were evaluated. The affecting degrees of the feed pressure were positively influenced by the solid content of the feed, while such degrees of the solid content of the feed were negatively impacted by the feed pressure. Finally, the optimal operating parameters combination (clean coal ash content was required as 10%) was determined as 10.85% solid content of the feed, 0.056 MPa feed pressure and 49.50 mm insertion depth of the vortex finder, respectively.