Study on flow field characteristics in a reverse rotation cyclone with PIV

Abstract

This study adopted particle image velocimetry (PIV) to understand flow-field movements in the conventional cyclone and reverse-rotation cyclone (RC). Tracer particles were prepared by preparing a 5-wt% sugar solution at normal temperature and pressure for velocity measurement, cloud and distribution velocity maps were generated at various flow rates using three cross-sections. Compared with conventional cyclone, the PIV testing results indicate that the tangential and radial velocities of RC increased at higher flow rates and decreased at lower heights, suggesting adequate radially symmetric distributions despite variations in heights and flow rates. The radial velocity exhibited adequate diagonally symmetric distribution, implying that the indicating excellent symmetry and regularity in the velocity distribution of the flow-field images of the separator, a sign of stable flow fields in the separator. Finally, the comparison showed a similar distribution and variation patterns, which was collected through PIV testing and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation.