Hydrocyclones

About Hydrocyclones

 

What is a Hydrocyclone?

A hydrocyclone is a device used for the classification of sub sieve materials typically below 200 microns. The material (in slurry form) is fed into the feed chamber at pressure, using a centrifugal pump. The centrifugal pump is paired with a cyclone to ensure optimal feed rate for the cyclone to perform efficiently.

 

Pressure Within the Hydrocyclone

Due to the conical shape of the cyclone, as the material makes its way down the cone, the pressure increase creating a vortex within the centre of the cyclone capable of lifting particles caught within it, carrying them up through the overflow of the cyclone.


How the Separation Occurs

The hydrocyclone separates the solid particles due to their relative settling rate. The separation of the solid particles occurs due to centrifugal force which is created within the body of the cyclone. As the material is fed in tangentially, the solid particles are accelerated against the walls of the cyclone. The force within the hydrocyclone acts greatest on the largest particles and are forced against the wall of the cyclone. The smaller finer particles find themselves drawn towards the centre of the cyclone. The finer particles in the centre of the cyclone are caught in the vortex and carried up through the overflow, allowing the coarser particles to continue falling and eventually leaving through the underflow.


Pump Requirements

Hydrocyclones can be paired with any brand of centrifugal slurry pump, however care must be taken to ensure that the pump feed rates and operation pressures are optimal with the cyclones requirements to ensure optimal operating conditions and maximum efficiency. SlurryPro centrifugal pumps are ideal to partner with Hydrocyclones. We can specify and supply pumps according to your specific requirements.

 

Introducing Salter

Always looking to provide better solutions to the issues that matter to our client base, we have teamed up with Salter Cyclones, whose team has been refining the science of fines separation for over a decade.

Centrifugal vortex separation provides the ideal continuous-process method of precisely separating fines into fractions, either for high-value mineral recovery or clarification of waste/process water.

A salter hydrocyclone pump being used

Working with Salter Cyclones, the separation experts for ultra-fines, Atlantic Pumps provide bespoke solutions for ore/mineral classification-separations, desliming clays, and other slurry-to-clean water treatment applications.

These high-efficiency, high-flow systems are specified to suit your exact needs and the outcome required. Materials are chosen for their hard-wearing properties and a long lifespan, even with the most abrasive of slurries.

Below are some key applications:

 

Mineral Beneficiation

Effective and efficient mineral separation and concentration is possible with Salter Cyclone and Atlantic Pumps. With precise control over inflow feed rates, hydrocyclone geometry and separation cut point, the maximum yield of valuable mineral is recovered and condensed.

 

Differential Classification

Multi-cyclone combinations can be packaged for either increased volume or for multi-fraction classification separation of minerals or size grades for example de-gritting and fine classification of sands, kaolin clays.

 


CDW and WEEE Recycling

Separating material by size and mass is crucial to the recycling of construction & demolition waste and electrical equipment. Hydrocyclones can quickly process crushed mixed waste into type; plastics, lead, lithium, gravel, sand fractions etc.

 

AD Biogas and Plastic Recycling

Removing grits and plastics from anaerobic digestor feedstocks is achieved by different cone diameters, as is metallics removal from plastics recycling streams.

 

Tailings Treatment

Cyclone separation is ideal for tailings pre-treatment or recovery from tailing dams. Reduced mining and quarry waste can be achieved by extracting saleable material into purified fractions.

A salter hydrocyclone pump being used to ensure optimal feed rate

Filter-Press or Filter-belt use

Hydrocyclones provide a good filter pre-treatment to improve the efficiency of these and other filter-type methods by removing the finest particles that tend to cause blockages. They provide a continuous thickening/dewatering process that takes up less space and capital than a filter press. In low to mid-volume applications, they can even be an alternative to a filter-press in some cases.

 

Desliming and ultra-fine solids separation

The finest particles suspended in a slurry can be difficult to filter out. This is often the case with clay slip, lime slurry and stone sludge from wet cutting and grinding. Centrifugal Hydrocyclones are ideally suited to the consistent removal of ultra-fine solids from fluids, as their cut size can go down to 3μm and there are no filters to clog up.

 

Tunnelling and Drilling

Recovery and recycling of drilling fluids can be achieved by passing contaminated mud through specially configured Hydrocyclones. Contaminated water treatment from tunnelling and other civil works can be improved with the use of Hydrocyclones.

 

Full Solutions Provider

With selectable fines separation from over 100 microns (µm) down to 3µm and sizes going up to 10” (250mm) NB, the options for even your most abrasive, solids-laden slurry are vast.

The Atlantic Pumps engineering dept has the experience and capabilities to design and fabricate pump-and-treat systems capable of handling highly abrasive, dense, or otherwise challenging slurries. By teaming up with other UK niche manufacturing firms they deliver bespoke treatment solutions for contaminated and abrasive fluids.

The Hydrocyclones have no moving parts as the fluid is put in motion by the externally mounted pump (SlurryPro, LSM or Audex depending on the situation). This keeps maintenance and operating costs low, with any spare parts and backup required being provided between Atlantic Pumps and Salter Cyclones Ltd, from their Derbyshire and Cheltenham.

For instances that require precise separation of mineral fines, high-efficiency Hydrocyclones provide the ideal process method. Hydrocyclones can be combined with EnviroHub for ultra-clarification and treatment of complex slurries to produce reusable water and separated solids.

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