A 3-dimensional Eulerian-Eulerian CFD simulation of a hydrocyclone

Abstract

Hydrocyclones are used in mineral industries for classification and separation of solid particles of different sizes and densities suspended in water medium. In the present study an Eulerian-Eulerian CFD simulation of a solid-liquid hydrocyclone has been carried out taking into account two solid phases and one liquid phase. The average size of the larger particle was 0.6117 and that of the smaller particle was 0.09875 mm. Three separate momentum balance equations for the three phases have been considered unlike that in the mixture model where a single momentum equation is solved for the three phases. Two turbulent models i.e. the Reynolds stress model (RSM) and the standard k-epsilon model were studied. Comparison of the two turbulence models showed slight variation in prediction of the velocity profile and the separation efficiency. The maximum deviation between the two models was observed near the wall where the stress was maximum for larger size particles. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.