Operation and troubleshooting of hydrocyclone separator

date icon June.07,2021

The main structure of the hydrocyclone separator is generally composed of the inlet section, the cylindrical section, the cone section, the tail section and the outlet tube.

Types of hydrocyclones

1. the static hydrocyclone, the shell of the hydrocyclone is fixed, and the whole structure does not have any moving parts, which completely depends on the pressure at the inlet to provide rotating power for the internal fluid, thus realizing the separation.
2. the dynamic hydrocyclone the shell is driven by the motor, and the inlet liquid can work as long as the inlet liquid flows into the hydrocyclone. Usually, this kind of hydrocyclone has higher separation efficiency, but requires an external power source.
3. compound hydrocyclone is a new structure which combines static hydrocyclone with dynamic hydrocyclone, which is developed by drawing lessons from the characteristics of static hydrocyclone and dynamic hydrocyclone.

Judging and debugging the working status of the cyclone

1. The concentration and fineness of the overflow.

⑴ The overflow concentration is small and the fineness is fine. At this time, it is necessary to reduce the pressure or adjust the concentration of the ore, and the small grit nozzle can also be replaced to meet the requirements.

⑵ Large overflow concentration and coarse fineness. At this time, the requirements can be met by increasing the pressure and adjusting the concentration of the ore, or by replacing the large sedimentation nozzle. However, the above adjustment cannot rely on only one method to adjust, because this may make the cyclone work insufficiently normal and stable.

2. The settled sand is discharged in an umbrella shape. The judgement basis is that the angle of the settling is between 10°-20°, and the concentration reaches about 75%, which is the best working condition. If the settling angle is too large, there are three reasons:

⑴ The grit nozzle is too large and the concentration of grit is too low. At this time, it can be adjusted by replacing the small sand spout.

⑵ If the feed pressure is too small, the feed pressure of the pump should be adjusted to meet the technological conditions.

⑶ The amount of ore feed is too small and the concentration of ore feed is too low. At this time, the amount of ore and the number of cyclones can be adjusted. In short, the size of the sedimentation concentration directly affects the efficiency of the mill, affects the granularity of the mill’s discharge, and has an impact on the entire process.

3. Judgment of pressure on mine:

1. The theoretical pressure adjustment range of the first-stage cyclone group is 0.06-0.10Mpa. If the pressure is too high, relatively large wear will occur to the cyclone.

2, The theoretical pressure adjustment range of the two-stage cyclone group is 0.08-0.16Mpa. If the pressure is too low, the concentration of sedimentation will decrease, and the overflow concentration will become coarser, which will affect the process.

In the pressure adjustment, it is necessary to ensure that the pressure of the first-stage cyclone group cannot be too high, and the pressure of the second-stage cyclone group cannot be too low.