Study on motion characteristics of filamentous biomass particles in a cyclone separator

Abstract

Cyclone separators are important equipment for biomass transportation and separation. At present, the separation mechanism of particles with special shapes is rarely explored. A mutable filamentous particle was established to simulate the separation process of biomass materials. Firstly, comparing the simulateded results with the experimental images. Further comparison of the simulation results with the experimental airflow tangential velocity to verify the calculation model. This study explores the separation characteristics and forces acting on filamentous biomass particles through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM). The distribution characteristics of airflow are also described in detail. The research results indicate that after 0.8 s, the filamentous biomass particles are separated stably in the cyclone separator and form a particle vortex line on the conical wall. The higher the inlet gas velocity, the lower the separation efficiency of filamentous biomass particles. The inlet gas velocity is 4.9 m/s, and the separation efficiency of filamentous biomass particles reaches 98.7%. The total force acting on the filamentous biomass particles gradually decreases after a sharply increase at 0.2 s, and it no longer changes after 0.5 s. The airflow vortex in a cyclone separator is composed of an internal vortex and an external vortex. The tangential velocity of the internal vortex varies approximately linearly. The internal vortex of the cyclone separator has a negative pressure area, which can lead to a decrease in the separation efficiency of filamentous biomass particles. These conclusions provide valuable theoretical guidance for the process and separation of biomass materials.