EFFICIENCY ESTIMATION OF LIQUID - LIQUID HYDROCYCLONES USING TRAJECTORY ANALYSIS

As the use of hydrocyclones for liquid-liquid separation becomes incre asingly common, the need for a satisfactory method to assess their eff iciency increases. Currently available efficiency theories were develo ped for liquid-solid separations based on the velocity distributions i nside a hydrocyclone. These theories, however; appear less suitable fo r emulsions where the dispersed phase is slightly lighter than the con tinuous phase, such as oil/water emulsions. An efficiency computation based on the analysis of the trajectories of the droplets is presented . Trajectories are characterized through a differential equation combi ning models for the three bulk velocity distributions (axial, radial, and tangential) and the settling velocity defined by Stokes' law. From the critical trajectory and given operating conditions, a characteris tic droplet diameter d(100) can be deduced that corresponds to the sma llest droplet with a 100% efficiency. Other efficiencies are obtained by changing the initial condition for the trajectory equation. The eff iciency results of different hydrocyclone configurations are compared with experimental results, and residual emulsion distributions are est imated.