Numerical analysis of flow field and particle motion in a dynamic cyclonic selector

Computational Fluid Dynamics is employed to investigate the flow field and the fate of particles in a dynamic cyclonic classifier which is used to separate fine particles of dried sludge, produced as waste by pulp and paper-making processes. The cyclonic classifier is equipped with a rotating impeller, which improves the tangential flow, and a circular baffle, which distributes the inlet stream of gas and particles. Unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved for the continuous phase, addressing the impeller motion though the Sliding Mesh approach, whereas Lagrangian tracking is employed for the particles. Surprisingly, the removal efficiency is found to be non monotonic with particle size, instead presenting a fish-hook shape. This is partly imputed to the presence of the circular baffle that promotes, in the bottom region of the cyclone, the formation of a nearly toroidal recirculation zone which entrains small particles, subsequently separated at the bottom. Moreover, too high inlet velocities were found to hamper the action of impeller rotation with a resulting detrimental effect on removal efficiency.