Performance Evaluation of Square Cyclone Separator with Cone Geometry Variations

Rapid industrial development with intensive operations increases exhaust emissions that are polluting the environment and human health. Efforts to overcome the problem are urgent to be realized, one of which is by using a particle separator such as a cyclone separator. Along with that, the design of a cyclone separator with the best performance is very important. Therefore, it is necessary to innovate and analyze the design of the cyclone separator by varying the cone geometry of the cyclone. This study aimed to determine the best square cyclone separator among square cyclone separators with various cone geometries, including single cone, dual inverse cone 1, and dual inverse cone 2. It was conducted by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation and experiments and then continued by comparing pre-determined aspects comprising pressure drop, collection efficiency, static pressure contours, tangential velocity contours in the cyclone body, tangential velocity vectors in the cone geometry, and tangential velocity vectors at the cyclone inlet. The single cone is the best among all cone variations since it fulfils more aspects better than the dual inverse cones, namely: dominantly lowest pressure drop of 188.5 Pa, static pressure contour of 10.42 Pa, tangential velocity contour of 3.06 m/s, flow direction of the tangential velocity vector in the cyclone geometry was at the centre of the bin, and flow direction of the tangential velocity vector at the cyclone inlet was parallel.