Performance evaluation of standard cyclone separators by using CFD–DEM simulation with realistic bio-particulate matter

As an abatement emissions control and energy-consuming device, cyclone separators are the most common device used in bioprocessing to separate fine and coarse particulate matter (PM) from the gas flow. In this investigation, four standard cyclones geometries viz. 1D2D, 2D2D, 1D3D, and 1D3D with 2D2D inlet (1D3D/w2D2D) in addition to a designed one, were simulated to investigate the performance characteristics. The D's refers to the cyclone diameter, and the numbers before each D's relate to the length of the cylindrical and conical sections, respectively. The PM used for testing and modeling was conducted on two types of real heterogeneous bioparticles (jojoba seeds and their leaves). This research is considered the first head start approach to predict the cyclone performance under the true shape modeling of PM. Discrete Element Method (DEM) was employed to simulate the trajectory of each particle, taking into consideration the interactions and collisions. Simultaneously, the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to simulate the highly curved streamlines and the chaotic turbulence of the continuum airflow with the Reynolds stress turbulence model (RSM). The designed cyclone was used to validate the results, which showed a good agreement between simulated data and the experimental work. The result showed that the 1D2D cyclone design has a better performance than that of the other cyclones. The methods used in this work for analyzing the phenomena occurring inside the cyclone separator allow for the conclusion that cyclone performance not only varies significantly with the cyclone type but the operating conditions as well. With these presented characteristics and evaluations, industrialists can utilize the mentioned designs for different processing to get high performance using a coarse and large PM process.