Design Analysis of Cyclone Separator for Air Classifier in the Processing of Oil Palm Trunks of Cutting Age using CFD

Oil palm trees will become waste after passing their productive age. Oil palm trunks can be processed into starch-rich flour. The process of separating starch and fibre uses a cyclone by flowing flour that has been blown with air from a blower. The desired result is that the palm trunk starch will fall down and the fibre will rise up following the air flow. The molecular weight of palm stem starch is heavier than the fibre, causing the starch to fall to the bottom. In this study, the author tried 6 different variations of inlet speeds ranging from 10 m/s to 20 m/s to observe the phenomena that occur inside the cyclone. Changes in inlet speed can affect axial speed, tangential speed and drop pressure. In addition, the author has changed the mass flow rate of palm trunk flour to enter the cyclone. The flow rate of mass and particles entering the cyclone will influence efficiency. The result is that this cyclone separator can be used for physical separation of starch and oil palm frond fibre with the recommended parameters using an inlet velocity of 20 m/s with a mass flow rate of incoming raw materials of 1 ton/hour.