Investigation of Swirling Flow Structure in Hydrocyclones

Three-dimensional simulations of incompressible fluid flow within hydrocyclones have been performed using the developed numerical technique. The computational approach, based on the finite element method, has the capability to deal with the complex geometry of the head entry part of the hydrocyclone. The boundary conditions represent forces and are efficiently incorporated into the numerical formulation. Such formulation has not been used before for hydrocyclone simulation. Three different swirling angles were investigated and the simulations were carried out for fluids with different properties. The numerical results clearly indicate the presence of an asymmetrical flow not only close to the entrance region, but also in the conical part of hydrocyclone. The different methods for modelling the particle distribution are also discussed.