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Cyclone Shapes for Sand and Microplastic Separation: Efficiency and Reynolds Number Relationships
Summary
This study compared three cyclone separator designs for their ability to separate microplastics from beach sand, finding that a cone-shaped design achieved near-perfect efficiency for denser plastic types but lower efficiency for lightweight Styrofoam. Cyclone-based separation offers a promising mechanical approach for cleaning microplastics from coastal sediments at scale.
In this study, three geometries were analyzed for sand and microplastic separation to confirm the applicability of cyclones. This research aimed to apply plastic-based samples such as Styrofoam, PET, PP, and PU to an analytical model, characterized by separating sand spread on Korean beaches into different outlets using a cyclone model. Regarding the numerical analysis, the results of sand particle separation were analyzed by designing a general cyclone (Type A), a cone-shaped cyclone (Type B), and a cone-shaped cyclone (Type C) with double the cone length, for four microplastics in three shapes. The results of the analysis of the characteristics showed that Type B, which has a conical shape, achieved an efficiency of 99.3–100% for sand, 72.7% for Styrofoam, and 95.7–100% for other plastics at an exit speed of 5–7 m/s, after which the efficiency decreased as the speed increased. Type C showed an efficiency of 92.2–100% for sand, 66.6–70.8% for Styrofoam, and 61% for PET at 5–10 m/s. Type C showed a maximum efficiency of 95.5% for PP and 73.4% for PU at 11 m/s. As the speed increased, the efficiency decreased. This is believed to be due to differences in the Reynolds number range, which helps separate particles depending on their shape; therefore, the applicability of the cone-shaped cyclone separator for sand and microplastic separation was confirmed, and it was found that an optimal speed condition exists in relation to the Reynolds number.
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