Enhancement on the separation precision of fine particles in a novel hydrocyclone with the vorticose involute-line diversion inlet head

Inlet head, as the multi-phase flow transport channel, imposes significant effects on the separation performance of a hydrocyclone. Ultra-fine powder is an inevitable product in the mining processing industry and sets extremely high requirements on product quality. Because of favorable water-carrying capability, fine particles can be hardly separated in a conventional feeding body. In order to satisfy the separation requirements of fine particles, this study designed a vorticose involute-line diversion inlet head that can effectively enhance the separation precision of fine particles and improve the product quality. Meanwhile, this study selected four hydrocyclones with different feeding structures for comparative analysis, and explored the isobaric pressure, velocity field, air core, and separation performance of the hydrocyclones through numerical simulation. The numerical analysis results showed that the effective pressure range in the novel hydrocyclone expands and the energy loss drops. The air core diameter is the lowest, the separation space of fine particles is the greatest, and the separation time is the longest, which can achieve a more thorough separation with the highest cutting capability and separation precision of fine particles. Finally, after an optimum design, the separation performance achieves the optimal at a wrap angle of 180 degrees.