AIR POLLUTION CONTROL TECHNOLOGY (CEB 30403)

TITLE OF EXPERIMENT

PARTICULATE EMISSION CONTROL BY DOUBLE CYCLONE SYSTEM

NAME : THEYVAN A/L GANESAN

ID

: 55201212141

LECTURER : DR. AMELIA

DATE OF EXPERIMENT : 9 MARCH 2015

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

This experiment was conducted to study the effect of cyclone body diameter upon collection
efficiency. The cyclonic separator is an important and popular type of dust-removal equipment.
In this experiment 50 gram of kaolin was used as sample to study the particulate collection
efficiency of double cyclone system.

A cyclone collector can be defined as a structure without moving parts in which the velocity of
an inlet gas stream is transformed into a confined vortex from which centrifugal forces tend to
drive the suspended particles to the wall of of the cyclone body. It consists of vertically placed
cylinders which has an inverted cone attached to its base. The particulate-laden gas stream enters
tangentially at the inlet point into the cylinder. The outlet pipe for the purified gas is a central
cylindrical opening at the top. The dust particulates are collected at the bottom in a storage
hopper. The gas path generally follows a double vortex (Tse Hung,2012). The gas is first allowed
to flow through a light circular spiral which produces centrifugal force on the suspended particles
which in turn are forced to move upwards at the central portion of the cyclone. Because of
inertia, the dust particles tend to settle on the surface of the cyclone wall, from where they are
collected in receivers (Sharma,2007).

Figure 1.0 : Cyclone Separator

(Source : Tse Hung, 2012 Handbook of Environment and Waste Management, pp.13)

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The collection efficiency of cyclones varies as a function of particle size and cyclone design.
Cyclones are generally sized from the diameter of the cylinder (Mudakavi,2010). Cyclone
efficiency generally increases with particle size and/or density, inlet duct velocity, cyclone body
length, number of gas revolutions in the cyclone, ration of cyclone body diameter to gas exit
diameter, dust loading, and smoothness of the cyclone inner wall. Cyclone efficiency will
decrease with increases in gas velocity, body diameter, gas exit diameter, gas inlet duct area, and
gas density. A common factor contributing to decreased control efficiencies in cyclones is
leakage of air into the dust outlet (Cheremisinoff,2002).

Under ideal operating conditions, the smaller diameter cyclone system can attain 80 % collection
efficiency. The larger diameter cyclone systems are usually free of plugging, and can achieve
efficiencies up to about 70 %. Very large diameter cyclone untis are rarely used because of their
relatively low collection efficiency (Arthur,1977).

There are three important operating problems associated with cyclones. They are erosion,
corrosion, and material build-up. Cyclones consists of some advantages. It have low initial cost,
low pressure drop, has no moving parts, low maintenance requirements, and so on. As for
disadvantages it have low collection efficiency for particles below 5-10 in diameter, deteriorate
due to abrasive and decreasing dispersoid concentrations in the gas stream (Tse Hung, 2012).

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2.0 OBJECTIVE

This experiment was conducted to achieve the following objectives :

To study the effect of cyclone body diameter upon collection efficiency.

To study the operating principle of double cyclone system.
To study the ability of double cyclone system in removing pollutants.

3.0 METHODOLOGY

No.

Descriptions

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The experiment was prepared for 200 mm cyclone operation.

The empty feed container and dust hopper was weighed separately.

50g of kaolin was weighed and poured slowly into the feed container.

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The air pump was connected to the feed container with the tubing provided
and the needle valve was initially closed.

The feed container was attached to the holder and adjusted so that the outlet of
feed container is just inside the inlet piping of cyclone.

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7

Next, the outlet dust filter was cleaned.

The Main Switch was switched ON and the START button was pushed to run
the air blower.

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The computer was switched ON (it directly launched the DAS software) and
then the EXPERIMENT button was clicked and EXPERIMENT Al was

chosen.
9
10
11
12
13
14

15
16

The air pump was switched ON and the needle valve was opened slowly until
boiling phenomena was observed.
The stopwatch was started simultaneously.
The RECORD button was clicked to record the airflow rates and pressure
drop.
The experiment ran for 30 min
The air blower was switched OFF after the experiment was completed.
The feed container was detached and the dust hopper and them was weighed
separately.

The collection efficiency of the cyclone was determined by key in the weight
of sample loaded and collected.
The experiment was repeated with the 100mm body diameter cyclone.

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4.0 DATA & RESULTS

Table 1.0 : Readings of several parameters according to diameter of cyclone

Air flow rate, Q (m /h)

Inlet velocity, v; (m/s)
Pressure Drop (in water)
Initial weight of sample in feed container, WCI (g)
Final weight of sample in feed container, WCF (g)
Weight of sample collected in dust hopper, WH (g)
Collection efficiency, (%)

200mm
28.62
2.15
0.082
50
3
40
85.11

100mm
26.06
1.96
0.028
50
2
46
95.83

Where,
Collection efficiency, = WH / (WCI- WCF) x 100

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5.0 DISCUSSION

This experiment was performed to study the effect of cyclone body diameter upon collection
efficiency. There are two different type of cyclone body diameter to produce two different
flowrates. Cyclone body diameter of 200 mm and 100 mm was tested to study the objective of
the experiment where it was tested one after another.

During the experiment, 50 g of kaolin was used as sample to test for cyclone body diameter
efficiency. As for first run, the cyclone body diameter of 200 mm was tested. According to the
data collected in Table 1.0, the collection efficiency obtained for 200 mm cyclone diameter was
85.11 %. Collection efficiency of second run with 100 mm cyclone body was 95.83 %. The
weight of sample collected in dust hopper for cyclone diameter 200 mm and 100 mm was 40 g
and 46 g respectively. Furthermore, the air flow rate, Q (m3/h) recorded for both 200 mm and 100
mm cyclone diameter was 28.62 m3/h and 26.06 m3/h respectively.

From the data obtained through this experiment it obiviously reveals that the collection
efficiency of cyclone diameter of 100 mm is higher than the 200 mm cyclone diameter. While,
the flow rate Q (m3/h), inlet velocity v (m/s), and pressure drop (in water ) of 200 mm cyclone
diameter is higher than the 100 mm cyclone diameter. Cheremisinoff, 2002 said that cyclone
efficiency will decrease with increases in gas velocity, body diameter, gas exit diameter, gas inlet
duct area, and gas density. Hence, the experimental values obtained from this experiment is
actually obey the above mentioned theoretical statement where as in this experiment, the higher
the flow rate Q (m3/h), inlet velocity v (m/s), and pressure drop (in water ), the lower the
collection efficiency. During low flow rate and low inlet velocity, more particulate matter
(kaolin) able to carry via the cyclone body. So, more dust can be collected.

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The collection efficiency of double cyclone system can be relate through an expression of
centrifugal force :

F = pd3pv2p

R
Where,
p = particle density, lb / ft3 (kg/m3)
dp = particle diameter, inches (m)
vp = particle tangential velocity, ft/s (m/s)
r = radius of the circular path, ft (m)

The larger the density p, the greater the force, F. The larger particles d p , are more easily to be
collected. The force also increase when the radius of the circular path, r reduced. This is why
smaller cyclones are more efficient for collection of smaller sized particles like kaolin dust in this
experiment.

The pressure drop of large diameter cyclone body may be due to some factors. It loss due to
expansion of gas when it enters the cyclone chamber. Loss as kinetic energy of rotation in the
cyclone chamber. Loss due to wall friction in the cyclone chamber. Any additional friction losses
in the exit duct, resulting from the swirling flow above and beyond those incurred by straight
flow. Any regain of the rotational kinetic energy as pressure energy.

Eventhough, the double cyclone system have higher collection efficiency, it have both pros and
cons. As for advantage, it have little maintenance, simple construction, and does not have
moving components. While the disadvantages is it can create noise, unable to handle sticky or
tacky materials, low output for low particle diameter, and high pressure drop (0.5 - 2.5 kPa).

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6.0 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

This experiment was conducted to study the effect of cyclone body diameter upon collection
efficiency. Two different diameter of cyclone ( 200 mm and 100 mm ) was analysed with kaolin
( 50 g ) as sample. The data and result collected reveals that the collection efficiency of double
cyclone system for large cyclone diameter which is 85.11 % is smaller than the small cyclone
diameter 95.83 %. It is due to the some factors, such as flow rate Q (m 3/h), inlet velocity v (m/s),
and pressure drop (in water). Smaller cyclones are more efficient for collection of smaller sized
particles like kaolin dust in this experiment compared to the larger cyclones.

As for recommendation, it is suggested that the cyclone body must have to clean properly to
avoid any dusts stick on it before begin the experiment. Must have to ensure that the dust hopper
connected properly to the system because sometime it may fall down from its original place
where it interrupt the process of dust collection. Regular inspection have to be performed to the
system so that a stable and accurate flow rate, velocity, and pressure drop can be maintained
throughout the whole experiment.

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7.0 REFERENCE

1. Tse Hung,(2012), Handbook of Environment and Waste Management, World Scientific

Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
2. Cheremisinoff, N.P. (2002), Handbook of Air Pollution Prevention and Control, Elseveir
Science (USA).
3. Sharma, B.K.(2007), Environmental Chemistry,Krishna Prakashan Media (P) Ltd.
4. Arthur, C.S.(1977), Engineering control of Air Pollution,Academic Press Inc.
5. Mudakavi, J.R.(2010), Principles and Practices of Air Pollution Control and
Analysis,International Publishing House Pvt Ltd.

8.0 APPENDIX

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Collection efficiency of double cyclone system was calculated using the formula below:

Collection efficiency, = WH / (WCI- WCF) x 100

200 mm
Collection efficiency, = 40 / (50- 3) x 100
= 85.11 %

100 mm
Collection efficiency, = 46 / (50- 2) x 100
= 95.83 %

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Figure 2.0 : Raw data of readings of several parameters according to diameter of cyclone

Figure 3.0 : Raw data for Experiment 1 (200 mm)

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Figure 4.0 : Raw data for Experiment 2 (100 mm)

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