A cyclone dust separator is a device used in industrial environments for the separation of solid particles from contaminated gas streams. Often referred to, if not considered, a dust collector, a cyclone separator is actually a type of auxiliary equipment for dust collection. They are intended for use as a pre-cleaner with other gas and particle cleaning devices. By design, cyclones are the first stage of a multi-stage dust collection system that serve as a product separator in air conveying systems. They are also employed for use in size reduction filtration processes or in product re-circulation systems.
Cyclone dust collectors are generally found in any work or industrial environment that needs to manage large fibrous or coarse particles generated during production processes. Ranging from large-scale industrial plants and facilities to small woodworking shops, cyclone separator applications are ideal for grain refineries, furniture factories, ceramic shops, agricultural processing plants, mining production facilities, and manufacturing operations that perform machining, grinding, or cutting, among other production facilities.
Why Use a Cyclone Dust Collector?
Cyclone separators can achieve high collection efficiencies, typically separating 99% of the dust particles greater than 10 microns in size from the air stream and depositing them into a collection bin. As it services dust from circulation, cyclone systems aid in increasing airflow within a plant or factory.
Once in service, unlike most dust collectors, cyclone separators do not use filters that require regular maintenance or replacement. Because they reduce the dust load for other filter systems, cyclone separators help save on increased filter changeouts, and associated maintenance and servicing costs for larger baghouses and cartridge dust collector systems.
There are other advantages, too. Within the range of their performance capabilities, cyclone separators are one of the least expensive types of dust collection equipment. When compared to other dust collection equipment, cyclone separators are inexpensive to manufacture and require little maintenance. They contain no moving parts, can operate at high temperatures and pressures, and the separator system yields fast separation while utilizing less space.
Cyclone Dust Separator Designs
The fundamental design principle for a cyclone separator, though unique, is extremely simple. It consists of a vertical cylinder with a conical bottom, and parts such as an inlet, outlet pipe, airlock, and discharge hopper. With no moving parts, the entire filtration process is driven by the fluid or gas and the contaminants themselves in combination with an applied force to pressurize the fluid or vapors.
How Does a Cyclone Dust Separator Work?
Cyclone dust collectors are a type of inertial separator that make use of centrifugal, gravitational, and-or inertial forces that separate dust from the airstream. The dust and particle-laden air or gas enters the cylindrical chamber tangentially at one or more points and leaves through a central opening. As contaminated air flows into the vertical chamber, it is subjected to rapid cyclonic forces that form a vortex within the dust collection chamber. The centrifugal force targets larger, fibrous or coarse particles, separating them from the air stream at high velocity and pushing the contaminants against the wall of the cyclone where they slide down to the base of the hopper for collection. Finer dust particles less than 10 microns are lifted out of the chamber and into the second stage filtration system where they are captured or trapped, sending clean air back into the workspace.
Adding a cyclone dust separator can dramatically reduce the amount of heavy dust that must be captured by traditional dust collection systems. Separators greatly extend maintenance intervals and filter changeouts associated with secondary dust collection systems. If your dust collection system is presently having performance issues such as clogged filters or frequently emptying the dust collector hopper, you may want to consider adding a cyclone dust separator to your filtration system.
To learn more about our dust collection systems, please contact us at CPE Filters today.