Modeling of Multiphase Flow in Hydrocyclone and Validation

Cyclone separators have exist since the 1800's and are still widely used in many
industries. Although hydrocyclone are geometrically simple, the physics describing
the flow and separation processes which occur in them is complex. Over the decades
many researchers have studied these devises and have developed a number of
theories and empirical models for design purposes. In practice, most cyclones are
design using some type of empirical information. Physical prototypes are then built,
tested and tuned until an acceptable level of performance is obtained. Recent
advancement in numerical methods and in the performance capabilities of
moderately priced computers have opened the possibility of developing
computer-based methods, which can be effectively used for hydrocyclone design
study. This is where this project play part, a study of multiphase flow in
hydrocyclone with different configuration of parameters are manipulate using
computer model will be proposed. In this model, the mixture of multiphase flow
model is used to simulate the internal three-dimensional flow field of the
hydrocyclone using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. AutoCAD and
NUMECA FINE/Open are used as a medium to design and simulate the CFD model
of hydrocyclone in this project to obtain optimum design configuration. The
outcome of research is very helpful to explain the separation process and to optimize
the hydrocyclone design. This study provides the potential to produce hydrocyclone
designs with the required performance characteristics more quickly and more
economically than older methods which use experimental design approach
exclusively.