Hydrocyclone modeling: large eddy simulation CFD approach

Finding a solution to the hydrocyclone problem has been a challenging task for the last 30 years. In the 1980s and 1990s, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used in an attempt to find a solution. These attempts, however, were unsuccessful due to oversimplification. Three-dimensional solutions using the kappa-epsilon model and the Reynolds stress model (RSM) have been published in the past. In this paper, RSM and kappa-epsilon models are compared with velocity profiles measured in 75- and 250-mm-diameter hydrocyclones. It is shown that results are not satisfactory with RSM or kappa-epsilon and that a model called large eddy simulation is needed to describe velocity profile evolution and size classification.