Computational fluid dynamics of a horizontal hydrocyclone for freezing desalination

Abstract

Freezing desalination is based on the principle that ice can be nucleated and grown, while excluding impurities. The water is frozen out of aqueous solution and becomes an ice crystal. Horizontal hydrocyclones are compact and simple centrifugal separation devices that have a low pressure drop. They have great potential for separating ice slurry from brine slurry. This work presents an in-depth study of ice-brine separation using a horizontal hydrocyclone and computational fluid dynamics. Computational fluid dynamics fluent has been performed with the Reynolds stress model and the Eulerian-granular approach. The effects of inlet velocity, ice inlet fraction, overflow diameter, and underflow diameter were investigated. The results show that the horizontal hydrocyclone can successfully separate ice from a brine slurry, with a lower solid volume fraction and a high inlet velocity. © 2017 Curtin University and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.