CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
IT IS first necessary to rationalize terminology. The liquid cyclone has become
known as the hydraulic cyclone through the prevalence of applications where
water is the fluid medium. "Hydraulic cyclone" has been abbreviated to
"hydrocyclone" and even "hydroclone". The preferred term in this text will
be "hydrocyclone" primarily due to brevity. The briefer term "hydroclone"
will not be used since it is felt to be less adequately descriptive and nearer to
jargon. Inevitably it will be difficult to be consistent. Frequent use of the
fully descriptive term "liquid cyclone" will still be made.
It has been said of the hydrocyclone that "its value as a process tool is
suggested at each turn in the flow sheet". Application has outstripped research and development to such an extent that in its short history only very
few of the very many published reports are of direct use in the prediction of
performance, whilst many aspects of design and performance remain incompletely explored. In the latter connection another quotation is apt. This is
"it speaks highly of the versatility of the cyclone that notwithstanding our
lack of knowledge of its basic principles it has proved satisfactory in so many
varied applications". The plant engineer who is assigned the task of specifying a particular cyclone for a particular duty is therefore faced with the
formidable task of searching and reading literature not all of which is relevant
to his particular problem. He will then find that many different design
features are advocated as a result of empirical tests which often had extremely
limited experimental conditions. He will also rarely find the underlying
reasons for a particular effect and will often find incomplete data on an effect.
There is therefore a need for:
(a) A change in approach to cyclone design. Rational design can and should
be based on a thorough understanding of the mode of operation.
(b) A source of quickly assimilated information to permit the prediction of
performance and the assessment of the effects of change in cyclone
design.
It is hoped that both of these requirements will be met in this book and
that the data reviewed will give further stimulus to the research worker as well
as help and guidance to the designer and plant operator. The research
worker who is, however, looking for a detailed discussion of vortex hydrodynamics will not find it here. This is a specialized aspect of the cyclone better
1
2

THE HYDROCYCLONE

left to texts on fluid dynamics. References on this aspect are included in the
Bibliography of Chapter 13, the more notable being those of Driessen,(1)
Criner,(2) Binnie,(3) Berthold,(4) and Tarjan. (5) References are given at the
end of this Chapter. In the case of Binnie and Tarjan these references are
chosen from many works on this subject and the full list can be obtained from
Chapter 13.
The general pattern to be observed will be discussion of the mode of
operation and areas of application, followed by design and performance considerations. The closing chapters will then deal with fields of application in
industry and a review of available commercial cyclone designs. Classification
of references into subject groups has been attempted in the Bibliography
which is completed by abstracts of the British patents.
It is hoped that this work will help to illustrate the versatility and advantages of the hydrocyclone thereby assisting towards its full appreciation.
Cyclone operation is not, however, an exact science and many aspects of
design and operation will remain controversial. Even the gas cyclone still
meets with this difficulty though it has a much longer history. The optimum
design remains undeveloped and it is interesting to note that the gas cyclone
design recommended in the Chemical Engineers Handbook edited by J. H.
Perry differs markedly from accepted European practice.
Before going any further there may be some readers who would appreciate
an answer to the question "what is a hydrocyclone?" or indeed "what is a
cyclone?" For the many to whom an answer is an insult to either their
intelligence or understanding I ask their forebearance.
The cyclone is a piece of equipment which utilizes fluid pressure energy to
create rotational fluid motion. This rotational motion causes relative movement of materials suspended in the fluid thus permitting separation of these
materials, one from another or from the fluid. The rotation is produced by
tangential injection of the fluid into a vessel. The vessel at the point of entry
is usually cylindrical. It can remain cylindrical over its entire length though
it is more usual for it to become conical. The important criterion which
distinguishes a cyclone is not, however, the shape of the vessel but the use of
fluid pressure to cause rotation.
The outlet for the bulk of the fluid is usually located near to or on the axis
of the vessel such that the rotating fluid is forced to spiral towards the centre
to escape. A rotational motion has thus built into it an inward radial motion.
Particles of a suspended material consequently have two opposing forces
acting on them, one in an outward radial direction due to the centrifugal
acceleration, and one in an inward radial direction due to the drag force of
the inward moving fluid.
The magnitude of these forces is dependent on the physical properties of
both the fluid and the suspended material (e.g., size of particles, shape of
particles, density of particles and of fluid, and viscosity of fluid), and use of

INTRODUCTION

these properties can consequently be made to effect separations of one

Cylindrical section

Conical section

D,

Underflow

. Feed
inlet

FIG. 1. Principal features of a hydrocyclone.

Many variants in design exist as will be seen later. These variants include
location of not only the two product outlets but of the feed inlet. It is, however, possible to describe and illustrate what has become accepted as the
"normal" design of cyclone. The illustration is given in Fig. 1 which also
shows the principal features in both elevation and plan. These are the tangential feed inlet, the main fluid outlet (or overflow), and the peripheral fluid

THE H Y D R O C Y C L O N E

outlet (or underflow). The overflow is taken out axially through a pipe which
protrudes from the roof of the cylindrical section of the vessel. This pipe is
known as the vortex finder. The underflow is taken out through an opening
in the apex of the conical section. A cyclone is normally sized according to
the maximum body internal diameter, that is, the diameter of the cylindrical
section. In other words, a 6 in cyclone is one with the internal diameter of
the cylindrical section equal to 6 in.
The cyclone is illustrated with its axis vertical. Except for cyclones of large
diameter operating at low pressure the position of the axis is immaterial.
Gravity plays no part in the separational forces except in these extreme cases.
The above description has been given in general terms applicable to either
the gas cyclone or the hydrocyclone. The principle is identical in each case.
The differences are largely associated with fluid properties in that the differences between the density of suspended particles and the medium are
greater for gases than for liquids and the kinematic viscosity of the medium
is smaller for gases than it is for liquids. Liquids are also effectively incompressible. A result of these differences is more ready entrainment of particles
inflowingliquid than inflowinggas.
REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

DRIESSEN, M. G. Rev. Industr. Min. Special Issue N o . 4, p. 449 (March 1951).