Investigating the Effectiveness of Vortex-Enhanced Particle Settling in a Hydraulic Separator Using Physical Modeling

Abstract

Often it is implied that hydraulic particle separators that incorporate vortex technology provide enhanced particle settling. In this study, a generic vortex particle separator was closely examined using physical modeling to help understand typical flow hydraulic conditions. The study was conducted using particle capture analyses under different internal structure configurations, inflow rates, and inlet pipe configurations to examine how resulting changes to flow conditions influenced the settling of particles. The purpose of this study was not to evaluate performance or obtain absolute particle removal rates of a particular particle separator design; instead, the focus was on understanding how modifications to the flow conditions in the examined separator could affect the particle-settling efficiency. The comparison results show that the inflow-generated large internal vortex does not effectively improve particle settling; possible explanations are given based on hydraulics and physics principles. The study method and results can be extended to examine and improve other hydraulic particle separators.