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Open AccessArticle
An Empirical Study on the Upcycling of Glass Bottles into Hydrocyclone Separators
by
Thomas Senfter
Thomas Senfter 1
,
Thomas Neuner
Thomas Neuner 1,
Christian Bachmann
Christian Bachmann 1,
Manuel Berger
Manuel Berger 2,*
,
Christian Mayerl
Christian Mayerl 1,
Tobias Kofler
Tobias Kofler 1,
Michael Kraxner
Michael Kraxner 1 and
Martin Pillei
Martin Pillei 3
1
Department of Environmental, Process & Energy Engineering, MCI—The Entrepreneurial School, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
2
Department of Medial & Health Technologies, MCI—The Entrepreneurial School, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
3
Department of Industrial Engineering, MCI—The Entrepreneurial School, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Separations 2024, 11(8), 230; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations11080230 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 12 June 2024
/
Revised: 19 July 2024
/
Accepted: 25 July 2024
/
Published: 26 July 2024
Abstract
Cyclones are pivotal in mechanical process engineering and crucial in the complex field of separation technology. Their robustness and compact spatial requirements render them universally applicable and versatile across various industrial domains. Depending on the utilized fluid and field of application, both gas-based cyclones and hydrocyclones (HCs) are well established. Regarding HC design, enduring elongated flat cones have seen minimal alterations in shape and structure since their introduction over more than a hundred years ago. Experimental investigations regarding unconventional cone designs within scientific studies remain the exception. Therefore, this study focuses on alternative geometric configurations of the separation chambers and highlights their impact on separation and energy efficiency. To achieve this objective, different geometric shapes are investigated and retrofitted into HCs. The geometric foundation is derived from upcycled glass bottles. The repurposed bottles with a volume of 750 mL are used in conjunction with an inlet part, following the established Rietema design. Experimental tests are conducted with dilute phase separation, using 0.1–200 µm test particles in water. Comparisons between a bottle-based HC and a conventional Rietema design were conducted, establishing a benchmark against the standard. The findings revealed a noticeable correlation between separation efficiency and cone geometry. Conical designs demonstrated enhanced separation, particularly at lower volume flows. At the highest volume flow of 75 L min−1, the best performing bottle cyclones showed separation efficiencies of 78.5%, 78.4% and 77.9% and therefore are in a competitive range with 78.0% efficiency, achieved using the commercial Rietema design. Minimal disparities in cut sizes were observed in terms of separation grade efficiency among the models tested. Variations in separation efficiency and fractional efficiency curves indicated nuanced differences in classification efficiency.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Senfter, T.; Neuner, T.; Bachmann, C.; Berger, M.; Mayerl, C.; Kofler, T.; Kraxner, M.; Pillei, M.
An Empirical Study on the Upcycling of Glass Bottles into Hydrocyclone Separators. Separations 2024, 11, 230.
https://doi.org/10.3390/separations11080230
AMA Style
Senfter T, Neuner T, Bachmann C, Berger M, Mayerl C, Kofler T, Kraxner M, Pillei M.
An Empirical Study on the Upcycling of Glass Bottles into Hydrocyclone Separators. Separations. 2024; 11(8):230.
https://doi.org/10.3390/separations11080230
Chicago/Turabian Style
Senfter, Thomas, Thomas Neuner, Christian Bachmann, Manuel Berger, Christian Mayerl, Tobias Kofler, Michael Kraxner, and Martin Pillei.
2024. "An Empirical Study on the Upcycling of Glass Bottles into Hydrocyclone Separators" Separations 11, no. 8: 230.
https://doi.org/10.3390/separations11080230
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