Process
Optimization
Separate fine solid particles from
dusty air with a uniflow cyclone
Fine particles are usually collected
by dry collectors, wet collectors, elec-
trostatic precipitators and filters, at the
commercial level. A cyclone separator is
a commonly used device for separation
of particles and dust from air or liquid
streams. These separators are some-
times referred to as pre-cleaners.
Cyclone separators can reduce the
loading of larger, abrasive particles to
downstream collectors and avoid tear or
choke on the surface of electrostatic pre-
cipitators or filters. Conventional indus-
trial cyclone separators have relatively
low efficiencies, especially for very small
particles and high operating costs.
To some extent, a uniflow cyclone
can overcome the abovementioned is-
sues. For a long time, the uniflow cy-
clone has been studied as a laborato-
ry-scale, experimental model. Design
procedures, performance data and in-
formation on commercial implementa-
tion are not mentioned in literature.
This article discusses the present de-
velopment, unique characteristics and
behavioral performance of uniflow cy-
clones, and offers recommendations for
overcoming the challenges of commer-
cial implementation.
Uniflow cyclone concept and
development. Solid fine particle sep-
aration processes play a vital role in
many industries, such as petrochemi-
cal, pharmaceutical, cement, power,
gas processing and cleaning, powder
processing, mining, incineration, etc.
These processes enhance air quality
S. SAKTHIVEL, TATA Consulting Engineers Ltd.,
Mumbai, India; and B. PITCHUMANI, Department
of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India (retired)
and can also collect fine particles as a
valuable product.
Fundamentally, the physical separa-
tion occurs between two phases, such
as a continuous phase (with a carrying
medium, such as air, gas or liquid) and a
dispersed (particle) phase, by density dif-
ference. The cyclone separators are clas-
sified according to the fluid carrying the
dispersed phase—e.g., gas cyclones (gas-
solid) and hydro-cyclones (liquid-solid).
The particles from the stream are separat-
ed by different methods, such as internal
forces (e.g., centrifugal or inertial forces),
external forces (e.g., electrostatic, gravi-
tational or magnetic fields) and particle
mobility (e.g., diffusion and screening).
Usually, the mechanical cyclone sepa-
rators are unable to process sticky mate-
rials. Different types of cyclone separa-
tors are available that are dependent on
the direction of flow and the configura-
tion of the outlet pipe with respect to
the inlet pipe, such as a cyclone separa-
tor (reverse flow) and a uniflow cyclone
(uni-directional flow), or a straight-
through cyclone.
A cyclone separator consists of a fun-
nel or a conical-shaped industrial inertial
device for the removal of particulates
or dust particles from an air/gas/liquid
stream by centrifugal force, which is a
more prominent force than gravitational
and inertial forces in a vortex finder. A
strong vortex is created on any particle
in the flow inside the cyclone; if the par-
ticles are denser than the carrier gas, then
they are subjected to centrifugal forces.
These forces move the particle radially
outwards, toward the inner surface of the
cyclone onto which the solids deposit.
Cyclone separators have been widely
used in different industrial processes due
to their many advantages, such as simple
geometry, low capital cost, low manufac-
turing, and maintenance costs (since there
are no moving parts), and the ability to
operate at high temperatures. In general,
the performance of a cyclone separator is
quantified by efficiency and energy (oper-
ating) cost, which is dependent on the cy-
clone design, inlet velocity, relationship of
pressure drop flowrate, economic criteria,
solid loading concentration, turndown ra-
tio and operating parameters of gas steam
temperature. However, conventional in-
dustrial cyclone separators have low effi-
ciencies, especially for very small particles
(< 10 μm) and high operating costs (due
to a high pressure drop). The cyclones can
be improved, to some extent, in terms of
these parameters. Further research and
development in this area is required.
Standard reverse cyclones can remove
greater than 10 microns of particles from a
dusty stream, which equals a collection ef-
ficiency of approximately 90%–95%. Some
cyclone manufacturers claim efficiencies of
greater than 90% for particles larger than 5
μm. However, the removal of fine particles
(i.e., less than 10 μm) is not easily achieved
with reasonable pressure drop by using re-
verse cyclones. Other types of uniflow cy-
clones enhance the efficiency and reduce
the pressure drop for a collection of fine
particles with respect to their application.
Gas is conventionally cleaned with a
high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA)
Hydrocarbon Processing | MAY 201951
 Process Optimization
filter, which is designed to collect or ar-
rest very fine particles effectively. HEPA
filters were originally developed by the
nuclear industry to clean up dangerous,
radioactive particles. Generally, HEPA fil-
ters can be used in the food and beverage,
healthcare, microelectronics, clean rooms
for IC fabrication and pharmaceutical in-
dustries. However, the filter must be re-
placed yearly and increases the operating
cost of the plant. A uniflow cyclone can
be used in some industrial applications to
increase the life of the filter.
Sometimes, if large particles of a higher
aspect ratio (i.e., a needle-shaped particle)
are present, they will pierce the HEPA
filter and the damage will not be known.
Here, the use of a uniflow cyclone is opti-
mal; a conventional reverse-flow cyclone
cannot be used since the efficiency will be
very low due to a low dust concentration.
Uniflow cyclone. A uniflow cyclone is
an axial-flow cyclone with a uni-direc-
tional flow. Uniflow cyclones are appli-
cable for capturing fine solid particles in
the pharmaceutical, incineration, powder
processing, power, indoor air recircula-
tion and cement industries, as well as air
intake for internal combustion engines
(particularly automobile).
The body of the uniflow cyclone con-
sists of a cylindrical pipe with a swirl
generator (i.e., inclined vanes) at the in-
let of the uniflow cyclone, and a vortex
finder at the outlet through which clean
gas passes. The uniflow cyclone is divid-
ed into three zones:
1. Inlet zone: Accelerated air and
solid particles are passed into
cyclonic swirl at high speed. The
dense particles, which are heavier
than air, travel outwardly on the
inside wall due to centrifugal force.
Separation chamber
Dusty air
Swirl vanes
Position I Position II
FIG. 1. Laboratory experimental setup.
52MAY 2019 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
2. Particle separation zone: The
particles are collected by a vortex
break (i.e., a vortex tube).
3. Outlet zone: Clean air exits, along
with entrainment particles, from
the vortex tube.
The swirl generator helps convert lin-
ear velocity into tangential velocity. To
impart maximum tangential velocity in
the uniflow cyclone, it is important to
know the optimum inlet vane angle of
the swirl generator. The generator creates
a rotating motion on the particle stream
and dust particles, which are denser than
carrier gas or air. These particles are
forced toward the wall of the cyclone by
centrifugal force and are separated from
the gas in a co-axial outlet. The uniflow
cyclones avoid reversal flow and mini-
mize the re-entrainment of particles due
to centrifugal forces on particles. Further-
more, this device reduces the pressure dif-
ference between the dust gas inlet and the
gas outlet due to uni-directional flow.
Several research groups have been con-
ducting experiments on uniflow cyclones
at the laboratory level. Several aspects
were studied, including enhancement of
collection efficiency, modification of de-
sign configurations, development of theo-
retical models and application purposes,
etc., through experimental and analytical
models or simulations [e.g., computational
fluid dynamics (CFD)]. In addition, many
operational and design parameters were
studied, such as dimensions of the cyclone
separator (diameter and length), inlet and
outlet of the cyclone, vane angle, vortex
tube diameter, vortex tube length, inlet
velocity/tangential velocity, stream con-
centration, particle size, density and shape.
Gauthier (1990)1 has developed and
studied the uniflow cyclone for the ultra-
rapid fluidized reactor (URF) process.
Vortex finder
Clean air
Flowmeter
Position III
Collection chamber
This study was focused on the effect of
collection efficiency on the performance
parameters of solid loading, inlet velocity
and length of the separation zone. Among
them, the length of the separation zone is
highly influential on collection efficiency.
Later, Gauthier reported the separation of
hot solid particles of catalyst from the gas-
eous product stream in URF processes.
Sumner et al. (1987) discussed the ef-
fect of design parameters of body length,
gas exit diameter and amount of gas with-
drawn with the existing solids (gas un-
derflow) for the separation of silica sand
as testing material. They reported high
collection efficiency (over 99.9%) from
the experimental results. Muschelknautz2
discussed the effect of design parameters
and an analytical approach model for es-
timating the collection efficiency of uni-
flow cyclones. Furthermore, his research
team reported that uniflow cyclones can
achieve higher efficiencies per volume
than standard cyclones, if the available
pressure drop is low.
The laboratory experimental setup
model is shown in FIG. 1. The results of
the study were used in the development
of air filters for the air intake filter for
various heavy-duty engines. From these
applications, design requirements for ef-
fective particle collection have been re-
ported by Sarat Chandra Babu, Malhotra
and Pitchumani.3–6
Recently, Mokni et al. (2015)7 have
done a numerical analysis on uniflow
hydrocyclones using CFD, the effect of
the geometrical parameter of cylindrical
height on the flow field, pressure drop and
separation performance. Their study in-
ferred that cylindrical length increases with
increased collection efficiency and pres-
sure drop, until a specific value is reached.
Compared with a reverse-flow cyclone
separator, the uniflow cyclone has special
aptitude for dust collection and low dust
concentration, as well as low pressure drop,
high-efficiency separation of fine particles
and easy installation in the process. TABLE 1
illustrates the comparison of reverse flow
and uniflow cyclones. Typically, high-den-
sity polypropylene (HDPP), stainless steel
and glass-filled polyamide are used to con-
struct uniflow cyclones.
Design and operational parameters.
The performance of the uniflow cyclone
separator is characterized by pressure
drop and separation efficiency.
 Process Optimization

The collection efficiency of the cy- efficiency, and smaller particles will be
clone separator is directly related to the removed with a lower efficiency.
design parameters, such as the dimen- The cut-particle diameter decreases as
sions of the cyclone separator (diameter the inlet velocity increases due to the in-
and length), inlet and outlet of the cy- crease in tangential velocity. Collection ef-
clone, vane angle, vortex tube diameter, ficiency increases with the increase in inlet
vortex tube length and operational pa- velocity, but pressure drop also increases
rameters like inlet velocity or tangential across the cyclone. The vane angle is a ma-
velocity, steam concentration, particle jor parameter to influence the collection ef-
size, density and shape. Among these, a
few parameters like inlet velocity (V), TABLE 1. Comparison of reverse-flow cyclone and uniflow cyclone
inlet diameter (D), swirl type and angle,
and ratio of inlet diameter to outlet diam- Parameters Reverse-flow cyclone
eter of the cyclone (d/D) are the prime Stream flow Reversal flow of air
factors affecting collection efficiency. Dust concentration High
Each cyclone has an individual grade Collected particle size > 10 μm
efficiency curve based on its design
configuration and dusty stream proper- Efficiency 90%–95%
ties (i.e., range of flowrates, density and Pressure drop Relatively high
viscosity of the gas). Generally, uniflow Space requirement More
cyclones are characterized/quantified by
Particle residence time High
grade efficiency and cutpoint or cut size.
The cut particle is defined as the particle Ability to operate At high temperature
size to be removed from the dusty stream
with 50% collection efficiency. If the feed Materials of construction Stainless steel
particles are larger than the cutpoint,
then they will be removed with a greater Commercial maturity Well-versed
ficiency and pressure drop of a uniflow cy-
clone. Both the tangential velocity and the
pressure drop increase with the increase in
the vane angle. A shorter vane angle leads
to a detachment of the flow at the backside
of the vanes; therefore, tangential velocity
decreases. An increase in the angle of the
vane leads to high collection efficiency, as
well as high pressure drop. The collection
Uniflow cyclone
Uni-direction flow
Low
< 10 μm
90%–98%
Low
Compact and less space
Low
At high temperature (with regard
to materials of construction)
HDPP, stainless steel,
glass-filled polyamide
Limited with application demand

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Hydrocarbon Processing | MAY 201953
 Process Optimization

efficiency increases with increased particle
loading, inlet velocity and particle diame-
ter, and decreases with smaller particle size.
The uniflow cyclone has unique ad-
vantages compared with the reverse stan-
dard cyclone:
• Compact size and easy installation
into particle feeding lines
• Ability to collect particulates
smaller than 10 μm
• Fitness for use in horizontal,
vertical or inclined orientation
• Typical collection efficiency is
more than 90%
• Lesser residence time in the cyclone
• Lower pressure drop due to uni-
directional flow
• Low operating cost due to
low pressure drop.
Takeaway. Uniflow cyclones have
unique characteristics and many advan-
tages over reverse-flow cyclone separa-
tors. The uniflow cyclone has a compact
design and low pressure drop, collects a
smaller particle size than 5 mm of cut-size
particles, and can be easily installed at any
orientation in an existing line. Uniflow cy-
clones can be used in a number of areas in
the oil and gas industry:
• Pre-collector for an HEPA filter
installed in gas power station
• Separation of fine particles for
high-pressure gas used in plant
• Pre-collector for air handling
equipment (e.g., compressors,
blowers)
• Separation of catalyst particles
(e.g., in fluid catalytic cracking)
from reacting gases and vapors.
LITERATURE CITED
1 obtained his PhD from the Indian
Gauthier, T. A., “Uniflow cyclone efficiency study,”
Powder Technology, Vol. 62, Iss. 3, September 1990.
2
Muschelknautz, U., “Analytical approach for
calculating the separation efficiency of uniflow
cyclones,” Chemical Engineering Technology, Vol. 35,
Iss. 12, 2012.
Complete literature cited available online at
HydrocarbonProcessing.com.
S. SAKTHIVEL has worked as a
Senior Technologist (Process) at
TATA Consulting Engineers Ltd.
since 2009. He completed his
BTech degree in chemical
engineering from the University
of Madras, an MTech degree in petroleum refining
and petrochemicals from Anna University and a
PhD in chemical engineering from the Indian
Institute of Technology at New Delhi. Dr. Sakthivel
has experience in process engineering, optimization
and development; technology analysis, screening
and selection; techno-economic analysis; laboratory
and market research; design of laboratory and pilot
experimental setup; process hazard analysis; and
powder technology. He has published a number
of research and technical papers in national and
peer-reviewed international journals.
BALAKRISHNAN PITCHUMANI
recently retired as Emeritus
Professor from the Indian Institute
of Technology at Delhi’s chemical
engineering department. He
Institute of Technology at Chennai
for the research and development of a jet mill for fine
particle production. He has continued in the field of
powder technology and solids processing for the past
40 yr. His research contributions include 150
publications in peer-reviewed journals and industrial
partnerships with numerous cement, mineral
processing and pharmaceutical companies. He has
also worked on 100 industrial projects. In addition to
the Indian domestic industries, Dr. Pitchumani has
conducted short courses in the US and Norway. He
received a national award in 1971 for his PhD work from
the president of India and was honored with a lifetime
achievement award by the International Congress on
Powder and Bulk Solids at Ahmedabad in 2014.

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