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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
The third type of classification used in mining is the Hydrocyclone, commonly called a Cyclone. Unlike the others it has no moving parts and is worked in conjunction of another piece of equipment, a pump. To understand the Hydrocyclone Working Principle we must first know its components. Beginning at the top, there is the OVERFLOW DISCHARGE.Unlike the rake and spiral classifiers, the overflow of the cyclone is the exit point for the fine material instead of the other way around as it is in the case of the other two. Extending from the overflow discharge into the body, which is the feed entry point of the cyclone, is the VORTEX FINDER.This is simply a length of pipe, its purpose is to provide a point of separation between the coarse and fine material. A better explanation will be possible once we begin explaining how it works. Next in our list of cyclones components is the UPPER and LOWER CONE, not all hydrocyclones have this section divided into two cones. Some are designed this way do to make repairs easier, and to isolate wear points, Their function is to help create a VORTEX.This is done by guiding the slurry to the underflow at the same time presenting a smooth surface that will not restrict the generation of the CENTRIFUGAL FORCE that makes classification possible. Connected to the lower cone is the APEX. The apex is the discharge point of the cyclone, this discharge is referred to as the UNDERFLOW. The material that exits at this point will be the material that requires further grinding. The last part of the cyclone is the cyclone SKIRT. It is there only to limit spillage and splashing it isn’t important to the operation of the cyclone.I would suppose you are asking yourself, why and how does this piece of equipment separate the different sizes of rock? To answer that, we have to get into the operational theory of the cyclone. To start with, the slurry is directed into the cyclone along the wall of the body. Due to the ore being pumped, the slurry has VELOCITY. It is this velocity and point of entry helps in creating a spiral path around the outside of the body, the upper and the lower cone.The entrance to the cyclone was designed this way to allow the incoming feed to help generate and not interfere with the spiral path that the ore must take inside the cyclone. The centrifugal force (the central Hydrocyclone Working Principle) that is generated by this spin, forces the “bigger particles outwards towards the wall of the cyclone. If you were able to do a cross section of a cyclone while it is operating, you could
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