Numerical Investigation of the Vortex Breaker for A Dynamic Separator using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

The separation efficiency and pressure drop of the dynamic separator of cement particles can be affected by many factors, like structural type, geometric parameters, and operating characteristics. In this paper, CFD modeling is applied to investigate the fluid flow behavior and the efficiency of the industrial dynamic separator with different heights of the inner cone called the vortex breaker. Simulations are based on the RSM and the DPM models. A CFD comparison of the original design and new designs has been performed. The simulation results showed that the fluid flow inside the industrial air separator is greatly dependent on the height of the vortex breaker. Interesting phenomena were observed by the numerical simulations and the results revealed that an increase in the height of the vortex breaker up to three-quarters of the magnitude of the fine powder outlet duct can improve the performances of particle separation not only by reducing 29% the cut size, and by 40% the bypassing of fine particles but also by increasing 30% the separation sharpness while keeping the pressure drop substantially unchanged.