The effect of magnetic field on the performance of new design cyclone separators

Abstract

In this paper it is attempted to improve the performance of the gas–solid new design cyclones with imposing magnetic fields. First, Eulerian-Lagrangian method is used to model the flow and to track the solid particles within the new design cyclones. The Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations with Reynolds stress turbulence model (RSM) are solved by use of the finite volume method based on the SIMPLE pressure correction algorithm in the computational domain. The velocity fluctuations are simulated using the Discrete Random Walk (DRW). Then, to investigate the possible influence of the magnetic field, horizontal and vertical distances of the magnetic source from the coordinate origin as influential parameters are investigated. Solid particles with three different diameters and with different materials including polystyrene, ferrous and nickel are used. Results show that applying a magnetic field can improve the collection efficiency for all different particles’ materials. Analysis of results proves that there is a strong correlation between cyclone performances. It is observed that the collection efficiency is very sensitive to vertical distance of the magnetic source from the origin. Moreover, providing higher efficiency without imposing pressure drop is the advantage of implication of a magnetic field.