Air Separators

 All practical dry powder separators use AIR to

accomplish the separation of coarse and fines.

 All designs have some degree of inherent

inefficiencies.

 Qf/Qa principle is important for all air

classifiers.
 O-Sepa
Arrangement
Principle of the
High-Efficiency Separator
OSEPA Details
Feed Classif icat ion Zone

Feed

Cage Rot at ion

Inlet
Plenum Unif or m
Flow distribution

Guide Vane Dir ect ion

O-Sepa Separator Motor
Reducer
Reducer Support

 Wear plates and air Coupling

Drive Support

seal should be Shaft Assembly

inspected regularly Exit Duct (To Dust

Collector & Fan)
Feed

 Guide vanes and rotor Air Seal

Buffer Plate

cage may require Dispe rsion Plate

Guide Vanes

annual hard facing Partition Plate

Swirl Blade

 Check ceramic tiling Secondary

Air Intake
Primary
Air Intake

 Remove build-up
Tertiary Air
Intake &
Dampe r

inside intakes Hopper

Flap Gate
Key Separator Relations
 Circulating Load
 % Recovery
 Tromp Curve
 Qf/Qa
Circulating Load
 C.L. = R/F (used by Lafarge) A: Separator Feed
 Others define it as C.L. = A/F
 No right way, but be sure to ask!
 Governs efficiency

R: Rejects
(or Tails) F: Fines
% Recovery
 Standard definition for efficiency
 Quantity of Fines “recovered” from
quantity available in the feed
 Quick way to determine performance
f(x)F
%Recovery = X 100
a(x)A

fines X (feed - rejects)

= X 100
feed X (fines - rejects)
Tromp Curves
 Graph tells a great deal about the
performance of the separator
 efficiency
 sharpness of cut
 agglomeration (grinding aid)
 mechanical state
 Probability vs. log plot
 Plots probability of rejects vs. size
How to read- perfect screen
1 0 0
 A perfect screen will give
a graph with a vertical
line A re a a b o v e

c u rv e

 The line occurs at the 5 0 is f in is h

p ro d u c t

sieve size
 The area below the line
is reject 0

1 1 0 4 5 1 0 0

P a r t ic le S iz e , µ m ( lo g s c a le )
How to read - overloaded (Bypass)

 The more you load the

100 Coarse Rejects

separator, the greater Rejected Fines

(Bypass)

the chance some fines

will be rejected 50

 This is called (Tromp)

Bypass
0
 Also applies if you 1 10 45 100

reduce internal air flow P a r t ic l e S i z e , µ m ( l o g s c a l e )

How to read - imperfection
C o a r s e P a r t i c l e s in F in e s
 Akin to a hole in your 100

screen
 Imperfection describes C o a rs e R e je c ts

the slope of the cut line

50
R e je c t e d F i n e s
 Related to a mechanical (B y p a s s )

design problem (or

improper maintenance)
0

1 10 45 100

P a r t ic l e S i z e , µ m ( l o g s c a l e )
What we don’t want
 Splitter gate 100

 A flat tromp curve

means that the
separator’s beginning to 50

look like a splitter gate

 Opposite to a perfect
screen
0

1 10 45 100

P a r t ic le S iz e , µ m ( lo g s c a le )
Example 1
100 7
Example Tromp Curve (Sturtevant)

99.38 6

93.32 5

69.15 4

50.00

30.85 3 Bypass = 56%

6.68 2
Acuity Limit = 25 m

0.62 1
1 10 100 1000

Particle Size, m, (x)

Example 2 Example Tromp Curve (OSEPA)
100 7

99.38 6

93.32 5

69.15 4

50.00

30.85 3

6.68 2
Bypass = 8%
Acuity Limit = 11 m

0.62 1
1 10 100 1000

Particle Size, m, (x)

Interpretations
100 100
Indicates
agglomeration
(grinding aid Poor
problem) Mechanical
Shape
50 50

Good
Mechanical
Shape
0 0
1 10 45 100 1 10 45 100
Particle Size, µm (log scale) Particle Size, µm (log scale)

100

Over fed

50
Under fed

0
1 10 45 100
Particle Size, µm (log scale)
Qf/Qa 

Related to circulating load
Qf is the separator feed rate (kg/hour)
 Qa is the air flow (m3/hour)
 So Qf/Qa is in units of kg/m3
 the lower the Qf/Qa, the more efficient the separator
 Qf/Qa should be less than 2 kg/m3 for good operation

Qf/Qa vs Bypass - O-Sepa & Sturtevant

80

70 Sturtevant Bath
Sturtevant
60

50

40

30
O-Sepa
20

10

0
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
Qf/Qa (kg feed/m3 separator sweep)
 Mill Discharge

Typical
Mill Circuit Clean Air
to Vent or
Dust Collector Recirc to
Separator

Separator Reject
Fresh Feed 10 m/s

5 m/s
1 m/s
25 m/s
Questions
 What is the basic purpose or function of an air
separator?
 The more heavily loaded the separator, the more
efficient the separation. True or False?
 If the separator feed is 150 t/hr, and the reject rate is
100 t/hr, what is the circulating load?
 If the separator feed is 150 t/hr and the airflow is
50,000 m3/hr, what is the Qf/Qa? Would this be
considered “good operation”?
 The “%recovery” calculation is based on samples of the
separator feed, fines, and rejects, and is a quick way to
determine separator performance. True or False?