A new correlation for holdup in gas-solids cyclone

The performance of cyclone as gas to solids heat exchanger depends on the surface area of holdup of the solid particles inside the cyclone. Unlike the conventional heat exchangers where heat transfer area is fixed for a particular heat exchanger, heat transfer area in the cyclone pre heater varies with operating parameters. Therefore, present investigation is aimed to study the effect of solid feed rate (0.5-7.5 g/s), cyclone inlet air velocity (9-22 m/s), and particle sizes (163-460 mm) on the holdup in a given cyclone. The existing correlations for prediction of holdup are reviewed. A new correlation is also proposed using step wise regression based on Marquardt-Levenberg algorithm. The new correlation is found to be better than the existing correlations.