(594b) Application of Numerical and Experimental Techniques for Verification and Validation in Cyclones

A verification and validation study of the gas flow in a modified cyclone was performed by comparing CFD results with experimental data. The numerical analyses were developed by means of commercial and in-house CFD codes. The anisotropic turbulence was modelled respectively with the Reynolds Stress Model and a hybrid model which combines the k-epsilon and Prandt models. The experimental data were performed with a Stereo Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system and the pressure drop in the cyclone was measured with a pressure probe. The measurements of the gas flow velocities were obtained in the cylindrical section, between the finder and the conical section, in terms of axial and tangential velocities. The boundary conditions for both numerical and experimental analyses were based on the inlet velocities from 8 to 16 m/s. For the PIV experiments tracer particles with 3.89µm Sauter mean diameter and 1400kg/m³ density were loaded to analyze the gas phase. The comparison between numerical results and experimental data showed a good agreement mainly for the axial velocity. Furthermore, the results showed that the modified cyclone presents a swirling downward flow coming from the finder duct to the cylindrical section. This behavior is not found in conventional cyclones and can be attributed to the geometrical effects of inlet and outlet. This behavior has not yet been discussed in the literature and is presented as an alternative to increase the cyclone performance.