Hydrocyclones dimensionless group model

Besides the feed solids concentration c, there is a whole host of variables affecting hydrocyclone performance and these are conveniently grouped together in dimensionless groups. A model based on the use of such groups has been published before and the present method is based on an adaptation of this model to small diameter hydrocyclones. 

It can be concluded that none of the simple theories give a completely general correlation that can be applied to any combination of the relative cyclone proportions. The vast majority of them, however, show that for a family of geometrically similar cyclones, there is a dimensionless group (we shall call it the cyclone number ) which should be a constant. This constant can be obtained from experiment, rather than from the correlations given by the various theories, and this approach leads to much more reliable performance prediction. This is the approach adopted in the chemical engineering model for hydrocyclone scale-up. 

Equations 6.5 to 6.7 (with the dimensionless group definitions in equations 6.8 to 6.11) represent a full model necessary for hydrocyclone design or scale-up. Since its development, we have used the model for the design and... 

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