The effect of axial cyclone inlet velocity and geometrical dimensions on the flow pattern, performance, and acoustic noise

Abstract

This article studied the effect of the inlet velocity and various geometric dimensions on the flow pattern, collection efficiency, pressure drop, and acoustic noise of axial cyclones using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The maximum values of tangential and axial velocity over inlet velocity were obtained for a guide vane revolution of 0.4 and a ratio of the swirler core diameter to the cyclone diameter of 0.3. It was found that the revolution of guide vanes also significantly affected the collection efficiency. In addition, the minimum values of the cut-off Stokes number, Euler number, and the overall sound pressure level (OASPL) were found to be 4.83 × 10−3, 4.014, 22.81 dB, respectively, while the minimal acoustic noise was observed for the guide vanes leading-edge exponent of 1.5. However, an increase in the Reynolds number did not alter the shape of the pressure and velocity contours but affected their magnitudes in the cyclone.