In the present study, imperative parameters including centrifugal force, erosion, streamline, strain rate, and wall shear are evaluated in a cyclone separator. The flaw of the cyclone surface due to erosion is an acute problem in the industry. According to the great importance of the centrifugal force on the separation phenomenon, a comprehensive study is conducted. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is realized by applying a Reynolds stress turbulence model (RSM), and particle–air interactions were modeled using a discrete phase model (DPM). The result shows a good agreement between the experimental data and CFD simulation on the tangential velocity and pressure drop. The maximum deviation of the validation process is 6.8%. It is found that the centrifugal force within the cyclone is increased with an enhancement in the inlet velocity. The separation efficiency indicates an increase–decrease treatment in various inlet velocities with inlet velocity up to 16 m⋅s⁻¹ but decreases slightly at a velocity of 20 m⋅s⁻¹. The pressure increases proportionally with inlet velocity. The best performance with the highest separation efficiency (99%) and pressure drop (416 Pa) obtains at the inlet velocity of 16 m⋅s⁻¹ and mass flow rate of 0.01 kg⋅s⁻¹. In addition, the maximum erosion rate was created in the entrance and conical part of the cyclone.

Cyclone is often used in the Industry due to its low maintenance costs, simple design, and ease of operation. This work presents both experimental and simulation evaluation on the effect of inlet velocity and mass flow rate on the performance of a wheat conveying cyclone. According to the great importance of the pressure drop and separation efficiency on the separation phenomenon in the cyclone, a comprehensive study has been conducted in this regard. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was realized using a Reynolds stress turbulence model, and particle-air interactions were modeled using a discrete phase model. The result showed a good agreement between the measured value and CFD simulation on the pressure drop and tangential velocity with a maximum deviation of 6.8%. It was found that the separation efficiency increased with inlet velocity up to 16 m s⁻¹ but decreased slightly at a velocity of 20 m s⁻¹. The pressure drop increased proportionally with inlet velocity. However, optimum performance with the highest separation efficiency (99%) and acceptable pressure drop (416 Pa) was achieved at the inlet velocity of 16 m s⁻¹ and mass flow rate of 0.01 kg s⁻¹.

Due to the limitations of fossil resources, it is momentous to accurately assess the high‐energy consumption systems that could be used to improve the performance of these systems. The crystallization process directly affects particle size, purity, and product yield in the sugar industry. In this study, a continuous vacuum pan in the crystallization line, located in the Urmia sugar plant, was evaluated by energy and exergy analyses and compared with syrup concentration line evaporators. Mass, energy, and exergy balances were conducted via coding in EES software, and energetic and exergetic functional parameters were obtained. The system’s heat loss and exergy destruction were calculated at 33.40 and 255.93 kW, respectively. The improvement potential was 114.70 kW, the sustainability index was 2.24, and the exergy efficiency of the vacuum pan was 58.46%, which indicates its poor performance compared to the evaporators of the concentration line. The vapor with energy and exergy of 12.66% and 18.44% of the total entering energy and exergy leaves the vacuum pan without any use and is considered a system loss. Therefore, as a solution, a thermocompressor is proposed as a solution to recompress the vapor and reduce the production costs and environmental impacts of the process in the Urmia sugar plant.