Aerodynamic Recirculating Separator for Bulk Material Efficiency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aerodynamic recirculating separators for bulk materials face challenges in achieving high separation efficiency and air cleaning within a single air circulation cycle, particularly with sticky materials like sunflower seeds, leading to high air pollution and equipment imbalance due to pollutant particles sticking to fan parts.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a recirculating separator with an air blower, separation chamber, and return air duct featuring a horizontally flared portion with a downwardly curved bottom and smooth turn zones, allowing air injection into discharge channels to entrain light particles and direct non-commercial particles to residue collection chambers, reducing air pollution and enhancing separation efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high air stream velocity is used to ensure particle separation, then separation efficiency is improved, but pollutant particles deposit on air blower parts and air duct walls causing equipment imbalance and reduced reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The air duct is divided into multiple sections with different functions: a separation chamber for particle separation, a residue collection chamber for pollutant accumulation, and a return duct for clean air circulation. This segmentation allows high velocity in the separation chamber while protecting the air blower from pollutant deposition.
Solution Approach 2:
The residue collection chamber extracts and isolates pollutant particles from the main air circulation system. By removing pollutants at a specific location away from the air blower, the system maintains high separation efficiency while preventing equipment contamination and imbalance.
2Productivity
If air blower capacity is increased to improve particle deflection, then separation performance is enhanced, but energy consumption increases and equipment complexity rises
Solution Approach 1:
The air duct cross-sectional area varies along its length, being smaller in the separation chamber to maintain high velocity for particle deflection, and larger in the return duct to reduce energy consumption. This local optimization allows effective separation with moderate blower capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the air stream velocity parameter along the duct length by varying the cross-sectional area. High velocity is maintained only where needed for separation, while lower velocity is used in the return portion, reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining separation performance.
3Productivity
If recirculation is implemented to improve air purification, then pollutant removal efficiency is enhanced, but pollutant particles may redeposit on movable parts causing maintenance issues
Solution Approach 1:
The residue collection chamber acts as an intermediary between the separation chamber and the air blower. It captures pollutant particles before they can return to the blower, allowing recirculation of purified air while preventing redeposition on movable parts and extending maintenance intervals.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration achieves up to 85% pollution collection at the first residue collection chamber, reducing air dust content in the return duct and minimizing pollutant deposition on air blower parts, thereby improving operational efficiency and extending maintenance intervals.
Implementation Method 1
the particle moving in the gas stream is acted as effected by gravity and under the influence of force developed by the air motion (hereinafter the air effective force) which is proportional to the square of flow velocity and air density at given point and depends on a particle maximum section area
Implementation Method 2
the particle moving in the gas stream is acted as effected by gravity
Implementation Method 3
the separation process, i.e. the separation of the commercial-size particles into fractions, takes place at the separation chamber and consists in development of the air stream by the blower which velocity is substantially lower than the soaring velocity of the commercial-size particles but this velocity is sufficient to deflect the commercial-size particles of a target fraction from the vertical direction
Implementation Method 4
the separator is capable for forcing in the remaining material particles into the said horizontally flared portions and directing at least part of the remaining material particles into the residue collection chambers effected by gravity
Data Source
AI summary
An aerodynamic recirculating separator of bulk materials that includes an air blower capable of forming an air stream, an outlet stream directing means, a separation chamber including two inlets and two outlets, a loading hopper, at least one discharge channel, a return air duct including a plurality of turning portions, and at least one residue collection chamber. An outlet of the air blower connects to the first inlet of the separation chamber, an outlet of the loading hopper connects to the second inlet of the separation chamber, the first outlet of the separation chamber connects to the return air duct, and the second outlet of the separation chamber connects to the at least one discharge channel. The air blower, the separation chamber, and the return air duct are consecutively connected so as to form a recirculation channel. The separator forms a material particle flow from the loading hopper to the separation chamber, to distribute commercial particles by their aerodynamic parameters in the separation chamber as the commercial particles fall from the loading hopper and are blown by the air stream formed by the air blower, and to remove the commercial particles through the at least one discharge channel. The separator forces remaining material particles into the at least one horizontally flared portion, directs at least a part of the remaining material particles into a residue collection chamber by way of gravity, and injects air into the separation chamber via the discharge channels. The first downstream horizontally flared portion includes a downwardly curved bottom wall and an opening in communication with said flared portion and the external environment. The opening is disposed in a smooth turn zone from said flared portion to the first of the plurality of turning portions, which has an upward turn.