1. An Novel Approach the Prediction of Drop Breakup in Hydrocyclones
LaTonya Frazier, and G. Dale Wesson
Department of Chemical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Tallahassee, FL 32310
Research Objective
To determine the effect of drop breakup on hydrocyclone separation efficiencies.
Background
Buoyant Force
Drag Force (Stoke’s Law)
Terminal Velocity rd l FD FB
Separation based on centrifugal forces
First patented in 1891
Original focus on solid/liquid separation
Adapted for liquid/liquid separation in early 1960’s
mc , rc er ez eq
Theory
F* determination
Drop breakup is instantaneous and occurs
upon the entry of the fluid into the hydrocyclone
There is a maximum drop size, lmax , that exists.
Only drops larger than lmax will breakup.
The drop breakup process is cascading.
Each drop breaks up into n drops of equal sizes.
Every drop experiences the drop breakup process.
No coalescence occurs between the drops
Results
Conclusions
Maximum stable drop sizes for 10 mm and 76 mm hydrocyclones are approximately 7.6 and 25.3 mm respectively.
For large particle size distributions (PSD), i.e. lmode 50 mm, the 76 mm hydrocyclone provides a better separation efficiency.
For smaller PSD, i.e. lmode < 50 mm, the 10 mm hydrocyclone provides the best separation efficiency.