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Influence of Design Parameters on Biomass Separation in Mini-hydrocyclones
Pablo R Brito-Parada1, Ruben Markus Dewes2, Dennis Vega-Garcia1
1Imperial College London Department of Earth Science and Engineering South Kensington Campus SW7 2AZ London UK.
Chemical Engineering & Technology
|April 30, 2019
Summary
Mini-hydrocyclones, manufactured using 3D printing, show promise for biomass separation in fermentation. Optimizing design parameters like spigot and vortex finder dimensions is key to enhancing yeast recovery and concentration efficiency.
Area of Science:
- Biochemical Engineering
- Separation Technology
- 3D Printing Applications
Background:
- Small hydrocyclones offer potential for biomass separation in fermentation.
- Previous research has not fully explored the interactive effects of design parameters on mini-hydrocyclone performance.
- Manufacturing challenges often limit studies on small-scale hydrocyclones.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of 3D printed 10-mm mini-hydrocyclone design parameters on separation performance.
- To explore the relationship between spigot diameter, vortex finder diameter, and vortex finder height with separation efficiency.
- To identify optimal design configurations for yeast recovery in diluted fermentation systems.
Main Methods:
- Utilized 3D printing to fabricate 10-mm mini-hydrocyclones.
- Employed a central composite rotatable design to study the effects of key geometric variables.
- Evaluated separation performance based on concentration ratio and yeast recovery from a diluted system.
Main Results:
- Determined the influence of spigot diameter, vortex finder diameter, and height on mini-hydrocyclone performance.
- Generated a Pareto front to visualize trade-offs in separation performance.
- Demonstrated the suitability of the Pareto front for selecting optimal designs under specific process constraints.
Conclusions:
- 3D printing enables the fabrication of mini-hydrocyclones for performance optimization.
- Design parameters significantly affect biomass separation efficiency.
- The Pareto front approach is effective for selecting optimal mini-hydrocyclone designs for yeast recovery.
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