A hydrocyclone is a cyclone separator that uses water as the bulk fluid; it is a gas- or liquid-cleaning device. Hydrocyclones are becoming well established in industrial applications. Application of hydrocyclones fall into several broad categories such as clarification, classification, thickening, sorting, liquid-liquid separation, washing, liquid degassing and particle size measurement. The hydrocyclone finds application across a wide range of industries such as petrochemicals, mining, mineral processing, oil production, food processing, pharmaceutical industry etc. Hydrocyclones can also be used for air pollution control of specified sources, such as fossil fuel power plants, smelters, petroleum refineries, pulp mills and incinerators. Hydrocyclones are constructed from a range of abrasion resistant materials, offering resistance to elevated temperature and chemical attack. They require little or no power, are almost maintenance-free yet allow continuous operation with a wide range of throughputs. Their simple design makes them fairly inexpensive and easy to control by either changing the pressure or diameter of the underflow.
