On the design of miniature cyclones for the collection of bioaerosols
Abstract
Miniature cyclone separators have important applications in the detection of bioaerosols in ambient air. Experiments have shown that
miniature cyclones can be used to collect bioaerosol particles with high efficiencies and with an acceptable pressure drop in the separation
unit. However, performance correlations based on large cyclones are not valid for small-scale cyclones. In this study, the effect of the scaling
of the cyclone and four different geometric parameters—conical length, vortex-finder length, vortex-finder diameter and underflow
diameter—on the performance of a cyclone separator is investigated. Based on the results of numerical computations, generalized
performance correlations, relating the pressure coefficient and the total collection efficiency to dimensionless geometric and operational
parameters are developed. D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.