Powder Technology 348 (2019) 65–69

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Powder Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/powtec

Short communication

A new volute design method for the turbo air classifier

Yuan Yu a, Wenjing Ren b, Jiaxiang Liu c,⁎
a
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
b
School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, Shaan'xi, China
c
Beijing Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Process and Technology for Materials, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Volute profile plays an important role in guiding the airflow for a turbo air classifier. The traditional volute design
Received 10 December 2018 is based on the method of analogue and there is a lack of uniform theoretical design basis and guidance. To meet
Received in revised form 5 March 2019 the needs of guiding the airflow better, a logarithmic spiral volute design method is put forward based on the
Accepted 8 March 2019
analyses of airflow motion in the volute and classification characteristics of the turbo air classifier. The numerical
Available online 12 March 2019
simulations on flow field distribution in the turbo air classifier show that the logarithmic spiral volute has a good
Keywords:
effect on guiding the airflow and can form a well-distributed flow field in the classifier, which is conducive to im-
Turbo air classifier prove the classification performance. The single particle trajectory verifies that the logarithmic spiral volute
Volute profile makes the airflow flow along the guide vanes circumferentially uniformly, forming a well-distributed flow
Logarithmic spiral field in the annular region of the classifier. So the classification results for the particles with the same size are
Volute design method in correspondence when the logarithmic spiral volute is applied. The numerical simulations of both gas phase
and discrete phase indicate that the logarithmic spiral volute can provide a well-distributed flow field for the clas-
sification and this volute deign method for turbo air classifier is feasible.
© 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V.

1. Introduction classification force field is enhanced to improve the dispersion of the

powders, which leads to an improved classification performance [6].
The turbo air classifier is widely used in the fields of fine chemical in- Sun Zhanpeng compared and analyzed the effect of air-inlet direction
dustry, ceramic and composite material manufacturing due to its simple on the performance of classifier through powder classification experi-
structure and adjustable operating parameters [1–4]. In recent years, ments [7]. Zhao Dongmei did some researches on the influences of ma-
with the development of powder technology, the performance of the terial feeding types on the classification performance [8]. Hideto
classifier has been continuously improved, especially in the refinement Yoshida improved the air inlet structure of the cyclone separator and
and narrow distribution fields. The separation of coarse and fine parti- the new inlet provided a smaller cut size and a higher classification
cles is implemented in the turbo air classifier under the influence of accuracy [9].
the airflow field which influences classification performance of the clas- At present, the structure improvement of classifier is mainly focused
sifiers directly. When the operating parameters are constant, the classi- on the rotor cage, guide vanes and spreading plate. However, there are
fier structure determines the flow field distribution, even the few reports on the volute of the turbo air classifier. Before the air
classification performance. Comparing to the airflow distribution using flows into the annular classification region, it will pass through the vo-
positive bending, reverse bending and straight guide vanes, Huang lute firstly. The structure of the volute determines the distribution of
Qiang concluded that the positive bending blades can reduce the swirl the airflow, the stability of the flow field and the classification perfor-
in the blade passages of the rotor cage, making the flow field well- mance. Since there is a lack of clear design method for the volute, the
distributed, improving classification accuracy, as well as reducing the analogy method is often used to determine the volute profile of a
cut size [5]. Liu Rongrong pointed out that the axial guide vanes with turbo air classifier. The common volute profile types include involute,
2.5° are favorable to keep the flow field well-distributed and the multi-arcs and approximate logarithmic spiral. However, in the turbine
machinery such as centrifugal blower and gas turbine compressor, there
⁎ Corresponding author. is a set of complete volute design theory to standardize industrial appli-
E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Liu). cations [10]. In this paper, the volute design theory of turbine is

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2019.03.015
0032-5910/© 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V.
66 Y. Yu et al. / Powder Technology 348 (2019) 65–69

The centrifugal force on the fine particle is smaller than the air drag
Nomenclature
force. As a result, it will be drawn into the rotor cage with the airflow
and be collected as the fine powder. The centrifugal force on the coarse
a width of the volute (mm)
particle is greater than the air drag force. Therefore it will move outside
b height of the volute (mm)
and collide with the guide vane or the volute, falling into the cone col-
θ setting angle of the guide vanes (°)
lector. Finally they are collected as the coarse powder. After the air en-
∅0 tongue angle (°)
ters the classifier from the airflow inlets, firstly, it passes through the
φ direction angle (°)
volute. Therefore the volute plays an important role on the flow field
Q inlet air volumetric flow rate (m3/s)
distribution in the annular region. In order to improve the classification
q'φ air volumetric flow rate passing through the section of
performance, the flow field of annular region should be well-distributed
AB (m3/s)
circumferentially, to ensure that the effects of the flow field on the same
qφ air volumetric flow rate passing through the section AC
particles in different circumferential positions are same, conducive to
(m3/s)
improve the classification performance.
R radius of the located fluid element (m)
The volute of the turbo air classifier includes the airflow inlet and the
Rh radius of the outer edge of the guide vanes (m)
volute, the cross-section of the volute in turbo air classifier is shown in
Vt tangential velocity of the fluid element with radius R
the Fig. 2. It is a centrosymmetric structure and there are two airflow in-
(m/s)
lets: 1# and 2#. The section ab c and a0b0
d are the volute profile. The sec-
Vht tangential velocity of the fluid element with radius Rh
(m/s) c and c0b0
tion cb d are airflow inlet straight channel. The dotted circle
V0 air inlet velocity (m/s) represents the section circle of the outer edge of the guide vane, de-
Vhr′ air radial velocity at the outer edge of guide vanes (m/s) c (and a′ on a0b0)
d is called the
noted by Circle_M. The start point a on ab
δ thickness of the guide vanes(m)
tongue and ∅0 is the tongue angle.
n1 number of the guide vanes
In the prototype classifier, the volute profile is an involute. In order
Vht′ air tangential velocity at the outer edge of guide vanes
to design a reasonable volute profile to improve its flow-guiding effect,
(m/s)
the motion of airflow in the turbo air classifier should be analyzed
firstly.
The motion of airflow in the classifier is shown in Fig. 3. The dotted arc
introduced and applied to the turbo air classifier, combining its classifi- is a part of cross-section line of the outer edge of the guide vanes, the solid
cation characteristics. A logarithmic spiral volute design method for the c is the airflow particle's trajectory. The angle φ is defined as
curve of BC
turbo air classifier is proposed. The well-distributed flow field of the air
the direction angle of airflow at the point B, which the angle between
turbo classifier with the logarithmic spiral volute is feasible to improve
OC and OB. The flow will just pass by the C point when φ = 0.
the classification performance.
Suppose the inlet air volumetric flow rate is Q, the air volumetric
flow rate passing through section AB is q'φ and the air volumetric flow
2. Theoretical design of volute rate passing through flow-guiding section AC is qφ which is coming
from the section AB. Considering the centrosymmetric structure of the
2.1. The formula derivation of volute profile classifier, to achieve the well-distributed air flow circumferentially, a
reasonable volute profile should ensure that the airflow enters the
The structural scheme of the turbo air classifier used in the present guide vanes passageway circumferentially uniformly, and it can be con-
study is shown in Fig. 1. Under central negative pressure, the airflow en- cluded as: qφ = Qφ/2π. In this case, when the amount of air flow from
ters the annular classification region through the guide vanes from two single airflow inlet is equal to that passing half of Circle_M (φ = 0~π),
horizontally symmetrical airflow inlets, forming a rotating velocity field. that is qφ = q'φ, mixed airflow in the volute from the two airflow inlets
At the same time, the powder materials to be classified are fed onto the would be avoided and the stability of the flow field would be ensured,
feeding plate, which is rapidly rotating together with the rotor cage. The thus the volute profile should be:
particles are thrown outward into the annular region, which is a cylin-
drical space between the outer edge of the rotor cage and the inner φ
q0φ ¼ qφ ¼ Q ð1Þ
edge of the guide vanes. The powder materials are separated into coarse 2π
and fine powder under the air drag force, centrifugal force and gravity.

Fig. 1. The schematic diagram of a turbo air classifier.

 Y. Yu et al. / Powder Technology 348 (2019) 65–69 67

Since steady-state and transient-state simulation results for this

turbo air classifier model are in good agreement, the airflow streamline
is approximated to the airflow's motion trajectory. It can be concluded
that the airflow streamline in the volute should meet the logarithmic
spiral line expressed in formula (6). Therefore, a volute with the profile
of logarithmic spiral line will ensure a perfect guiding effect. When the
operating condition is determined, the R corresponding to each φ can
be calculated, so the position coordinates of the points on the airflow's
motion trajectory can be obtained. The volute profile can be obtained
by fitting these points. Since the change of the volute profile will change
the cross section of the inlet, the inlet air volumetric flow rate is used in
this paper, which is:

Q ¼ 2abV 0 ð7Þ
Fig. 2. The cross–section of the volute in a turbo air classifier.
Where a, b– width and height of volute; V0– air inlet velocity.
In the prototype structure, a is 0.062 m, b is 0.096 m, and the air inlet
The whole section of AB is filled with effective airflow and the total velocity V0 is 12 m/s. So the design conditions are: rotor's rotating speed
amount is: is 1200 r/min and the inlet air volumetric flow rate Q is 0.1428 m3/s.
Z R
2.2. The calculation of volute profile
q0φ ¼ bV t dr ð2Þ
Rh
According to mass conservation law, air volume is Q in the classifier.
Where R– radius of the located fluid element (m); Rh– radius of the ′ after entering the guide vanes passageway can
The air radial velocity Vhr
outer edge of the guide vanes (m); Vt– tangential velocity of the fluid el- be calculated by formula (8):
ement with radius R (m/s); b– height of the volute (m).
Q
Ignoring the influence of friction, the airflow in the volute is not sub- V 0hr ¼   ð8Þ
jected to the external force and is accorded with the law of conservation δ
b 2πRh −  n1
of moment of momentum, there is: sinθ

Rh V ht ¼ RV t ¼ constant ð3Þ Where δ– the thickness of guide vanes, δ = 0.002 m; n1– the number
of guide vanes, n1 = 24; θ– setting angle of the guide vanes, θ = 15; Rh–
Where Vht – tangential velocity of the fluid element with radius Rh the radius of the outer edge of the guide vanes, Rh = 0.142 m.
(m/s). The tangential velocity of the air at the outer edge guide vanes is:
Combining formula (3) and (2), there is:
V 0ht ¼ V 0hr cotθ ð9Þ
Z R
R V R
q0φ ¼ b h ht dR ¼ bRh V ht ln ð4Þ
Rh R Rh ′ and Vht
Then according the expression of Vhr ′ , they can be calculated
′ = 2.11 m/s and Vht
and Vhr ′ = 7.86 m/s. And the volute profile can be ob-
R can be expressed as: tained as:
q0φ Q
φ 7:142410‐2
R ¼ Rh ebRh V ht ð5Þ R ¼ Rh e2πbRh V ht ¼ Rh eπ0:0960:1427:86φ ¼ Rh e0:212φ ð10Þ

Combining formula (1) and (5), the airflow streamline equation in 0, π/6, π/3, π/2, 2π/3, 5π/6 and π are assigned to φ in order to calcu-
the volute can be obtained: late the volute profile points, and the outputs are listed in Table 1.
Q
Keeping unchanged prototype volute tongue angle ∅0, the start
φ
R ¼ Rh e2πbRh V ht ð6Þ point of the volute profile is determined. These points on the volute pro-
file are fitted in sequence, and the logarithmic spiral volute which is
suitable to the airflow characteristics can be obtained. The comparison
of the cross section of the prototype volute and the calculated logarith-
mic spiral volute is shown in Fig. 4.

3. Numerical simulation and analysis

To simulate the distribution of flow field in the turbo air classifier

with this logarithmic spiral volute, Gambit 2.2.30 and ANSYS-FLUENT
17.0 were used to establish the model of a turbo air classifier and simu-
late its inner airflow field. The model was designed to describe the main
classification regions, including the volute, the rotor cage and the center
section. Structured Hex&Wedge meshes were applied to these regions

Table 1
The calculated discrete points on the volute profile.

φ (rad) 0 π/6 π/3 π/2 2π/3 5π/6 π

R (m) 0.142 0.159 0.177 0.198 0.221 0.247 0.276

Fig. 3. Analyses of the motion of airflow in the volute.
68 Y. Yu et al. / Powder Technology 348 (2019) 65–69

Logarithmic spiral volute profile

Prototype volute profile

Fig. 4. The comparison of the two different volutes' profiles.

and the Cooper algorithm was selected to create volumetric meshes. Be-
fore the primary simulations were conducted, the verification of grid in-
dependence was implemented [11]. In this study, the mesh with
1,550,012 nodes was selected to conduct the required simulations.
The RNG k-ε turbulence model was adopted to describe the air flow
[12]. To guarantee the same design operating conditions with those of Fig. 6. The tangential velocity contour in XOY plane (z = 50) of the annular region.
the prototype classifier, the inlet air volumetric flow rate Q of
0.1428 m3/s and the rotor cage rotary speed of 1200 rpm were set.
annular region is shown in Fig. 7. The minus sign means that the velocity
3.1. The simulation and analysis of the continuous phase points to the center. It shows that the radial velocity is well-distributed
in the annular region, which is more favorable for classification.
3.1.1. The velocity distribution in the volute
The airflow velocity distribution of in the XOY plane (z = 50) of the
turbo air classifier is shown in Fig. 5. The air velocity is well-distributed 3.2. The simulation results of the discrete phase
in the annular region including the location near volute tongue. The ve-
locity gradient is from 4 to 8 m/s. When the classifier is working, the The flow field distribution in the classifier directly determines the
powder materials to be classified will be thrown into the annular region movement of the particles. Since the particle volume fraction in the
from the spreading plate, the circumferentially well-distributed velocity classifier is less than 10%, the particles' trajectories in the in this nu-
distribution can ensure the same classification effect for these particles merical analysis can be simulated using the Discrete Phase Model
in different circumferential positions, which can improve the classifica- [13]. To observe the particle's trajectory clearly, the single particle
tion performance. with size of 21.8 μm is released from point A and B and the simula-
tion results are shown in the Fig. 8. The red curve is the particle tra-
3.1.2. The velocity distribution in the annular region jectory released from point A and the blue curve is the particle
The velocity distribution in the annular region is analyzed in XOY trajectory released from point B. The particles of the same size at
plane (Z = 50). Fig. 6 shows the tangential velocity distribution in the the different position A and B will enter the cage and collected as
annular region. It shows that the tangential velocity is well-distributed fine powder, because the air flows into the annular region through
in the annular region and the tangential velocity in the same circular the guide vanes circle uniformly, which will improve the classifica-
is almost same, thus the tangential velocity in different circumferential tion performance.
positions can maintain same, which devotes to the improvement of
the classification performance. The radial velocity distribution in

Fig. 5. The velocity magnitude contour in XOY plane (z = 50) of the classifier with log
spiral volute. Fig. 7. The radial velocity contour in XOY plane (z = 50) of the annular region.
 Y. Yu et al. / Powder Technology 348 (2019) 65–69 69

What is worth mentioning is, the further promotion of this volute

design method for a turbo air classifier to industry will be done soon
and then the reports on the industrial application and verification will
be tracked.

Acknowledgement

This project is supported financially by the National Natural Science

Foundation of China (No. 51204009).

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