Hydrocyclone

What is Hydrocyclone?

Hydrocyclone (centrifugal de-selector) is a kind of high-efficiency classifying and de-sludging equipment for fine-grained materials, which is mainly used in the second stage grinding, coarse grinding or concentrate regrinding and closed-circuit process composed of machinery. Hydrocyclone utilizes centrifugal force to classify the slurry. Lack of movement and power device, need to support the corresponding slurry pump. Mainly used in mineral processing industry for classification, separation, concentration, desliming and so on. Its classification operation is carried out according to the particle size. In the closed-circuit grinding system, it is characterized by high grading efficiency under high ore concentration and fine overflow fineness.

Sometimes this equipment is used in conjunction with dewatering screen to achieve perfect performance.

If you are a beginner and do not know about Hydrocyclone, tell us your raw material characteristics, finished product requirements, site conditions, production budget, hourly production, and other requirements, we have professional engineers to equip you with a suitable model at a reasonable price. Next, let’s see the types of Hydrocyclone we can supply.

What Is Hydrocyclone Used For?

• Hydrocyclones are most commonly used to separate “heavy” material from liquid mixtures produced by centrifugal pumps or other continuously pressurized liquid sources.
• If the “light” portion of the mixture is high and the “heavy” portion settles more easily, then hydrocyclones are most likely the right choice for this process.
• Generally, hydrocyclones are used in continuous flow systems such that the instantaneous liquid volume flowing into the hydrocyclone is equal to the total instantaneous outflow of the “light” and “heavy” components.
• If the “heavy” material is only a very small portion of the overall liquid, it is sometimes advantageous to remove it in batches by accumulating it at the bottom of the hydrocyclone.

For example: During the grading process of a gold mine, it was found that the grading effect was poor and the solid-liquid separation was not obvious, thus it was necessary to add several hydrocyclones. Chunlei’s classification cyclone equipment adopts involute feeding method, this involute feeding port is conducive to increase the centrifugal force of the material, improve the classification effect, greatly reduce the wear and tear of the feed box, classification index is higher, the index fluctuation is smaller. Customers are very satisfied in the actual application process.

Hydrocyclone ordered by Customer

Chunlei Machinery has been engaged in mining machinery manufacturing for more than 30 years, with a wealth of experience in building websites and customer cases, served customers all over the world!

Technical Parameters of Hydrocyclone

Model	Norm	Capacity（m3/h)	Classification particle size（μm)	Overflow diameter(mm)	Sinker diameter(mm)	Inlet pressure（MPa)
XC II F 150	150	10 ~23	25 ~74	30 ~50	8~22	0.06 ~0.15
XC II F 200	200	17 ~38	28 ~80	40 ~65	16 ~32
XC II F 250	250	24 ~53	30 ~82	65~100	16 ~40
XC II F 300	300	40~100	36 ~90	65~120	20 ~40
XC II F 350	350	56~118	40~100	80~120	30 ~70
XC II F 375	375	74~157	42~105	90~135	30 ~70
XC II F 450	450	90~192	44~110	100~150	30 ~70
XC II F 500	500	128~300	50~115	130~220	35~100
XC II F 550	550	155~368	52~120	140~240	35~100
XC II F 600	600	200~468	57~125	160~260	65~110
XC II F 660	660	237~524	60~130	180~280	80~150

Working Principle of Hydrocyclone

The working principle of hydrocyclone is mainly centrifugal sedimentation, when the two-phase (or three-phase) mixture to be separated at a certain pressure from the cyclone feeder into the cyclone, resulting in a strong three-dimensional elliptical strong rotational shear turbulence movement.

Due to the different densities of particles, the centrifugal force, centripetal buoyancy, fluid traction and other different sizes, by the centrifugal sedimentation, most of the coarse particles (or heavy phase) discharged by the cyclone bottom outlet, while most of the fine particles (or light phase) discharged by the overflow pipe, so as to achieve the purpose of separation and grading.

Chunlei hydrocyclone structure is uniquely designed, using a multi-stage column composite structure, according to the need to increase or decrease the height of the column, if the height increases, the overflow fineness increases, up to 10μm or so; and each diameter has a unique combination of cylinder length and cone angle, can be in the smallest total length of the cyclone to achieve the maximum tangential speed, thus increasing the centrifugal force of the material to improve the efficiency of grading.

Advantageous features of Hydrocyclone

• Chunlei hydrocyclone feeder adopts involute direction to feed materials, which increases the centrifugal force of materials, improves the classification effect and greatly reduces the wear of feed box.
• The use of involute way can reduce the turbulence generated by the sudden dispersion of the material into the cyclone, the smooth operation of the slurry inside the cyclone, thus improving the separation performance of the cyclone and reducing the impact of the material on the feed box wear.
• Hydrocyclone column cone section length ratio and overflow pipe insertion depth is reasonable, higher classification efficiency.
• With wear-resistant rubber as lining, the service life can be extended by 2-4 times.
• Reasonable structural design, higher classification index and less fluctuation of index.

Hydrocyclone FAQ

1. Q: What is a hydrocyclone used for?
A: A hydrocyclone is used to separate solids from liquids or to classify particles by size and density. Common applications include sand separation, mineral processing, wastewater treatment, and desliming.

2. Q: How does a hydrocyclone work?
A: Liquid mixed with solids enters the cyclone tangentially at high speed, creating a strong vortex. Heavier/coarser particles are forced outward and downward to the underflow outlet, while lighter/finer particles move upward to the overflow outlet.

3. Q: What particle size can a hydrocyclone separate?
A: Most hydrocyclones can separate particles down to 10-100 microns, depending on the cyclone diameter, pressure, and design. Smaller cyclones (like 10mm or 25mm) can cut as fine as 2-5 microns.

4. Q: What is the “cut point” or d50 of a hydrocyclone?
A: The cut point (d50) is the particle size at which a particle has a 50% chance of reporting to either the underflow or overflow. For example, a d50 of 45 microns means half of the 45-micron particles go to underflow, half to overflow.

5. Q: How do I choose the right hydrocyclone size?
A: Choose based on your feed flow rate, desired cut size, slurry density, and pressure available. Smaller cyclones give finer cuts but lower capacity. Use our sizing table or online calculator – just provide your tonnage and target P80 size, and we’ll recommend a model.