The most easily worn parts of the hydrocyclone

February.25,2025

The degree of wear of the various parts of the cyclone is from large to small, namely, the underflow orifice plate, cone, inlet annular area, top plate, and column. The simulation results show that at the top of the cyclone, the wear phenomenon is distributed on the outer circumference of the circle, and increases radially with the increase of the radius. In the inlet annular area, the main wear is caused by particle impact, and the most serious part is between 30° and 60° azimuth. The wear of the column section is mainly scouring wear, and the wear track is distributed in a spiral band. In the cone section, the closer to the underflow hole, the greater the wear rate, and it reaches the maximum value near the underflow hole. The experimental results show that the wear morphology of each part is highly consistent with the simulation results, and the wear rate values ​​are slightly different. The wear rates of the top plate and column sections are roughly the same, and the wear rates of the inlet annular area and the upper cone section are similar, about 3.9 times that of the column section. The underflow orifice plate has the largest wear rate, which is about 4 times that of the upper cone section and 1.7 times that of the lower cone section.

Impact and friction sliding of mineral particles on the wall of the hydrocyclone cause wall wear

During the operation of the hydrocyclone, due to the size difference between coarse and fine particles in the slurry, mineral particles enter the hydrocyclone shell through the feed pipe under the action of pressure. Under the action of centrifugal force, coarse particles move downward with the slurry and are finally discharged from the sand settling port, while fine particles flow upward with the slurry and are discharged from the overflow pipe. During operation, mineral particles deviate from the flow direction of the flow field under the action of centrifugal force and make strong rotational motion. Under the violent scouring of the treated slurry, the wall of the hydrocyclone is impacted and rubbed by mineral particles, resulting in serious wear problems.

Wear near the feed port and sand settling nozzle of the hydrocyclone

The structure of the hydrocyclone is relatively simple, mainly consisting of a conical shell, a cylindrical shell, a feed pipe port, a sand settling outlet, an overflow pipe, and an overflow discharge pipe port. Its structure is shown in Figure 20. The wear problem of the hydrocyclone is most serious at the sand settling port and the feed port. The wear of the sand settling port increases the discharge port area, increases the sand settling output, reduces the concentration, and seriously affects the separation efficiency of the hydrocyclone.