The influence of the number of particle outlets as well as of varying inlet and underflow volume flow rates on separation efficiency and pressure drop of uniflow hydrocyclones was empirically investigated. Therefore, several prototypes were designed and constructed, and separation tests were systematically conducted on a test rig. With regard to the number of particle outlets, the influence of a single, twofold and fourfold particle outlet on the separator’s performance was evaluated. The results showed that a higher number of particle outlets had neither a measurable influence on the separator’s separation efficiency nor on the pressure drop. However, high inlet volume flow rates favor particle separation but also lead to higher pressure drops. Accordingly, separation efficiencies in a range of 26.92 % to 38.56 % were recorded, while the pressure drop simultaneously varied between 0.218 bar and 0.413 bar. The separation efficiency was additionally enhanced by applying higher underflow volume flow rates. Increasing the underflow to inlet volume flow ratio by 4 % led to performance improvements by more than 6 % on average.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.