Geometric optimization of filtering conical hydrocyclones for thickening purposes with low energy consumption

Abstract

The growing demand for process improvement and cost reduction has motivated many studies involving modifications in conventional devices. The filtering hydrocyclone is a non-conventional hydrocyclone that combines filtration with centrifugal separation to reduce energy costs and increase separation efficiency. In the present work, an optimization study was developed using Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm to obtain a filtering conical hydrocyclone (FCoH) categorized for thickening purposes (minimum split ratio) with low energy consumption (low Euler number). A performance comparison showed that FCoHs had an Euler number that was up to 40% lower than those found in the conventional hydrocyclones of the same geometry. The filtering hydrocyclone geometry obtained in the optimization study, named FCoH-OTS, resulted in the lowest split ratio (S = 9.59%) and Euler number (Eu = 665) among the 25 different configurations investigated in this research. The optimized configuration led to reductions of 28.6% in the split ratio and 49.5% in the Euler number compared to the hydrocyclone from the experimental design with the lowest split ratio. The low values obtained for the split ratio and Euler number confirmed the expectation of a hydrocyclone for thickening purposes with low energy consumption.