Danylo O. Silva

Experimental Study of the Influence of Vortex Finder Geometry on Hydrocyclones Performance

The use of hydrocyclones for particles separation is widespread due to advantages such as low cost, simple structure, large capacity and low volume. The shape and size of a hydrocyclone has a decisive effect on the internal flow structure of the continuous phase, and therefore, the separation or classification of the dispersed phase [1]. Therefore, in order to improve the equipments performance, several geometrical changes have been studied in the literature for hydrocyclones of different families [2-13].

Analysis of the Use of a Filtering Medium in Different Parts of a Centrifugal Separator

Hydrocyclones are devices used in solid-liquid, liquid-liquid, and solid-liquid gas separation process applied in several industry fields such as mining, food and petrochemical. With the rising need of diminishing energy consumption and enhancing process efficiency, modifications on these equipments have been proposed in order to elevate their performance. It can be found in literature optimized geometric relations for a hydrocyclone (designated CH11), aiming to conjugate low energy consumption and small cut size diameters. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to study the influence of filtration on CH depending on where the filtering wall is settled (cylindrical or conical part). The main experimental results suggest that the placement of the permeable region (conical or cylindrical parts) influenced the performance of the equipment regarding the main variables. In conclusion, setting a filtering wall brought expressive changes for the separation process.

RECUPERAÇÃO DE BIXINA DAS SEMENTES DE URUCUM ( Bixa orellana L.) UTILIZANDO UMA NOVA CONFIGURAÇÃO PARA O LEITO DE JORRO

RESUMO A bixina e o carotenoide mais utilizado na industria alimenticia. E tradicionalmente extraida das sementes de urucum por meio de solucoes alcalinas, friccao em oleo vegetal aquecido ou por meio de solventes orgânicos. Estes metodos, alem de exigir uma operacao unitaria subsequente de separacao da bixina, podem gerar residuos toxicos. Assim, a extracao mecânica torna-se um meio atrativo para a obtencao de po rico em bixina a partir das sementes de urucum, sendo caracterizado como um metodo “verde”. Este trabalho objetivou investigar a extracao mecânica da bixina das sementes de urucum utilizando uma unidade de leito de jorro com um anteparo de altura regulavel. Foi realizado um estudo experimental para avaliar a influencia de tres variaveis (carga de sementes, altura do anteparo e a vazao de ar) nas respostas (massas de po e bixina extraidos e o percentual de bixina no po). Os efeitos foram calculados utilizando regressao multipla. As melhores condicoes de extracao foram determinadas utilizando um algoritmo de evolucao diferencial. Foram identificadas as condicoes que levaram as melhores eficiencias de extracao (para o po e a bixina) e a maior pureza de po obtido (acima de 65%). Os valores experimentais obtidos apresentaram baixos desvios em relacao aos correspondentes preditos pelo modelo.

Experimental Study of the Hydrocyclone H11 with Rotational Feed

Hydrocyclones are separators that are widely used in industry that belong to an important group of equipments designed to solid-liquid or liquid-liquid separation. The employment of hydrocyclones is generally restricted to an equipment need with a high classifying power (based on the size of particles collected in the underflow) or with a high concentrating capacity. The separation occurs by density difference or particle size distribution of the dispersed phase. In order to maximize the separation efficiency of these devices, the aim of this work was to study experimentally the consequences of an unusual feed in the behavior of a hydrocyclone. Therefore, tests were carried out with aqueous suspensions of phosphate rock at a fixed level of pressure drop equal to 1.47 bar, using the optimized geometry hydrocyclone H11. The influence of the so called rotating feed inlet for the H11 was evaluated in clockwise and anticlockwise. Experimental studies have suggested that the rotation of the fluid in the feed inlet of hydrocyclone did not change significantly the underflow-to-throughput ratio (RL), although it has caused changes in the energy cost and in the performance of the separator.