Effect of Vortex Finder, Inlet and Body Diameter on Separation Efficiency of Hydrocyclone for Crude Palm Oil Industry

Hydrocyclone is novel optional equipment that can be applied in solid separation for crude palm oil process because of its advantage over the existing technology. Hydrocyclone is a cost-effective, continuous tool which is easy for maintenance. The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of vortex finder, inlet, and body diameter of hydrocyclone on separation efficiency of palm meal from crude palm oil by using PVC resin as the solid phase and biodiesel B5 as the liquid phase. All parameters were simulated using computational fluid dynamic, CFD. In addition, the inlet diameters were tested experimentally. The feed flow rates in both simulation and experiment were varied from 4 - 14 L/min at the constant flow ratio of 0.2. Experimental design was clearly specified. The vortex finder diameters of 3.8, 4.8, and 5.8 mm were also simulated as well as the inlet diameters of 5, 6, and 7 mm. Three sizes of body diameter of 30, 40, and 50 mm were selected as the example sizes. According to the simulation results, the smaller vortex finder, inlet, and body diameter of hydrocyclone revealed the higher separation efficiency.