AbstractThe performance and flow field of large‐scale cyclones with different inlet numbers were investigated by using computational fluid dynamics methods. The results show that the efficiency, pressure drop, and performance factor of cyclones increase with the increase in the number of inlets, and the quadruple inlet cyclone having the best overall performance is supposed to adopt. The number of inlets of the cyclone increases, the tangential velocity increases, and the short‐circuit flow rate decreases; however, when the number of inlets is greater than 2, both variations are lessened. In this study, the vortex eccentricity of the quadruple inlet cyclone is the smallest, the vortex eccentricity of the double and triple inlet cyclone is comparable, and the vortex eccentricity of the single inlet cyclone is the most significant.