Airvate Blog

  Introduction A cyclone separator is also called a cyclone dust collector. The typical industrial cyclone is a centrifugal reverse-flow cyclone. The dust outlet of a cyclone is called a material discharge outlet or cone-tip. Sketch of a reverse-flow, cylinder-on-cone cyclone with a tangential inlet I have been asked how the diameter of the dust outlet affects the performance of a cyclone a couple of times by colleagues and final users. Normally, when engineers size and/or design a cyclone, they pick a standard one from manuals or handbooks. However, when dust loading is high, cyclone designers worry about whether the dust outlet is big enough. If the separated dust cannot be discharged immediately, a cyclone will not be functional. In reality, after a cyclone was put into use, final users worried about the same thing. When there is blockage at the cone bottom, they have to hit the bottom part with a hammer to dislodge the plug, and this often leaves dents or deformation on...

Introductory Air balancing, trouble-shooting, and system evaluation in dust collection and industrial ventilation systems all require accurate measurements of air flowrates. Normally, the Pitot tube and magnehelic gauge (or manometer) are used to measure the velocity pressure and static pressure inside of a duct (round or rectangular), and then the air flowrates are calculated based on the measured values. This article talks about 5 kinds of uncertainties that always happen in field measurements using Pitot tube, the estimated maximum errors with some of them, and how to avoid some uncertainties with recommendations from manuals and standards ( ISO 3966 and NF X 10-113).   Uncertainties, maximum errors, and how to avoid some of them In addition to the inherent errors from Pitot tube and gauges themselves (calibration, resolution, drift, etc., sometimes with the correction factor of Pitot tube involved), there are other errors we have to...

  In a dust collecting system, the duct, fan, and dust collector are all susceptible to abrasion from dust particles, high-velocity gas flow, and chemical corrosion. The elbows are most vulnerable to abrasions. Air leakage around an access-door or hopper and loose flange isn’t uncommon either. Many times, these holes on ductwork, fans, and dust collectors are not repaired and left alone, so they grow bigger and bigger and air leakage becomes an even worse problem. Airvate did some calculations to estimate sucked-in air volume through a hole based on available data regarding the hole’s area and gauge pressure inside of a duct or dust collector. The calculations are listed in the table below. Along with the sucked-in air volume, moisture volume is also listed in the last column for an 8-hour shift assuming that the sucked-in air is saturated with water vapor, like what would happen on a rainy day. 4 hole-sizes are selected: 3 round holes of sizes 7/16”, ½”, and 1” in diamet...