Inlet head for a cyclone separator

Abstract

An inlet head for a cyclone, the inlet head including a feed chamber therein having an inner side wall, an end wall at one end of the side wall, an open end at the other end of the side wall, the open end being of circular cross-section with a central axis. The inlet head further includes an inlet port adjacent the end wall for delivering material to be separated to the feed chamber, the inlet port having a feed height dimension Hin the direction of the central axis, an overflow outlet in the end wall which is coaxial with the central axis, a vortex finder at the end wall or extending into the feed chamber in the direction of the central axis a distance Lfrom the end wall, and a feed inlet zone in the inner side wall of the feed chamber having an upstream end adjacent the inlet port and a downstream end. The feed inlet zone is in the form of a volute having a volute axis extending around the inner side wall and including a first sector in which the volute is generally at right angles to the central axis and a second sector in which the volute extends around the side wall generally in the direction of the central axis away from the end wall wherein the distance from the volute axis to the central axis decreases with the progression of the volute from the inlet port, and the distance Lis a fraction F of the feed height dimension H