Design and Analysis of a Separator for Aluminium Dust Particle Collection

¹ School of Computer Science and Engineering, Faculty of Innovation and Technology, Taylor’s University, 1, Jalan Taylors, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
² Research & Enterprise Department, Taylor’s University, 1, Jalan Taylors, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: douglaskumtien.tong@taylor.edu.my

Abstract

Cyclone separators are considered one of the most common and widely used method of separating solid particles from fluids. The focus of this paper was to design a separator that could effectively improve the air quality of an industrial working environment by considering factors such as the nature of the particles and the restrictions on the device such as size and operating condition. To do so, a sample of the dust sample was studied to determine the characteristics of the aluminum dust. An initial separator model which satisfied the separation condition was developed, and a second model was developed with the goal of optimizing and reducing the overall size of the separator. All models developed were subjected to CFD simulations to analyze the flow patterns, separation rate at various particle diameters as well as comparing against the theoretical predicted values. The simulation results showed how the change in various parameters improved the separation efficiency. The total height of the model was approximately 20% smaller than the initial proposed design to fit into the manufacturer’s workbench while the separation efficiencies improved by an average of 5% to 10% across various particle sizes. The results obtained indicated that the efficiency of the particle collection is dependent on the area of the barrel inlet of the separator and the depth of the vortex finder.