Hydroclone Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Hydroclone?
A Hydroclone is a static device that applies centrifugal
force to a liquid mixture so as to promote the separation
of heavy and light components.
The Hydroclone is a closed vessel designed to convert incoming
liquid velocity into rotary motion. It does this by directing
inflow tangentially near the top of a vertical cylinder. This
spins the entire contents of the cylinder, creating centrifugal
force in the liquid. Heavy components move outward toward
the wall of the cylinder where they agglomerate and spiral
down the wall to the outlet at the bottom of the vessel. Light
components move toward the axis of the hydroclone where they
move up toward the outlet at the top of the vessel.
Hydroclones are related to the cyclone separators that are
commonly used to separate entrained solids from air in pneumatic
conveying systems.
Hydroclones are also related to centrifuges in that both
are intended to separate heavies and lights by application
of centrifugal force to liquids. The key difference is that
Hydroclones are passive separators capable of applying modest
amounts of centrifugal force, whereas centrifuges are dynamic
separators that are generally able to apply much more centrifugal
force than Hydroclones. Another key difference between Hdroclones
and centrifuges is cost. Centrifuges are expensive precision
rotating machines that often need sophisticated control, whereas
Hydroclones have no moving parts and usually no controls at
all so they are lower cost devices.
Hydroclones and centrifuges are complementary rather than
competing devices. If gravity alone will settle a significant
portion of your solids in a minute or two using a quick bottle
test, you should investigate Hydroclone separation. If settling
takes much longer than this, then you may need a centrifuge
or other separation method.
See the Hydroclone separation
theory page for more information.
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What are the uses and limitations of
Hydroclones?
A Hydroclone is most often used to separate "heavies"
from a liquid mixture originating at a centrifugal pump or
some other continuous source of pressurized liquid. A Hydroclone
is most likely to be the right choice for processes where
"lights" are the greater part of the mixture and
where the "heavies" settle fairly easily.
Generally, Hydroclones are used in continuous flow systems
so that the instantaneous liquid inflow to the Hydroclone
is equal to the total instantaneous outflow of "lights"
plus "heavies". In cases where "heavies"
are a very small part of the whole liquid, it is sometimes
advantageous to accumulate them in the bottom of the Hydroclone
for batchwise removal.
ChemIndustrial's modular construction methods make it easy
for us to provide accumulation configurations.
In some applications, ChemIndustrial Hydroclones are capable
of sharp separations of "heavies" and "lights".
In other situations, they are used for incremental enrichment,
reducing the load on other, more costly separation equipment
and improving the overall economics of operation.
Hydroclones are generally not recommended for removing long
fibers from liquids.
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