A Combined Method in Parameters Optimization of Hydrocyclone

Abstract

To achieve efficient separation of calcium hydroxide and impurities in carbide slag by using hydrocyclone, the physical granularity property of carbide slag, hydrocyclone operation parameters for slurry concentration, and the slurry velocity inlet are designed to be optimized. The optimization methods are combined with the Design of Experiment (DOE) method and the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. Based on Design Expert software, the central composite design (CCD) with three factors and five levels amounting to five groups of 20 test responses was constructed, and the experiments were performed by numerical simulation software FLUENT. Through the analysis of variance deduced from numerical simulation experiment results, the regression equations of pressure drop, overflow concentration, purity, and separation efficiencies of two solid phases were, respectively, obtained. The influences of factors were analyzed by the responses, respectively. Finally, optimized results were obtained by the multiobjective optimization method through the Design Expert software. Based on the optimized conditions, the validation test by numerical simulation and separation experiment were separately proceeded. The results proved that the combined method could be efficiently used in studying the hydrocyclone and it has a good performance in application engineering.