Cyclone Separator

[potatoflinger]

I am thinking about building a cyclone separator to be used with a leaf blower/vac for leaf collection in the fall. I would really like to be able to have the separator and a collection bin both mounted to my trailer so that I don't have to keep emptying the small canvas bag that is currently on the vacuum. Here is a link to the concept. Before I invest the time into building the separator, I have a few concerns that you all might be able to help me address:

1. Most cyclone separators have a vacuum "pulling" debris through them, but this will be connected on the output side of my blower/vac, so I will be "pushing" debris through. Do you think this will matter?

2. Would it be beneficial to have two separators mounted "in series" in order to ensure complete separation of the leaves from the stream of air, or would this cause the air to slow down and limit performance instead?

3. Would the collection bin have to be round, or could it be rectangular? I'm not sure if this would affect airflow, but all of the commercial dust separators I have seen have had round bins. A rectangular bin would work better on the trailer though.

I have done quite a bit of research on the topic, but can't find the answer to these three questions. It doesn't seem like anyone has tried to use a cyclone separator quite like this before. If nobody knows for sure of a reason why it won't work, I will probably give it a shot and then report my findings

[Gippeto]

Have a cyclone separator mounted on the outlet of my bead blaster airflow supplied by larger shop vac...you MUST pull through...cannot blow through.

Having two in series is not needed...mount it to a bigger collection drum/container. The one I use removes all but the very finest dust from the air moving through it...cleaned out the table saw (way overdue BTW)...no saw dust found its way into the shop vac, and the sawdust was packed TIGHT into the collection pail. VERY impressed.

Collection bin can be any shape...round does seem to be preferred. More important that the cyclone separator is sealed air tight to the lid of the container...lid must seal to the container too. Poor seals WILL result in poor collection.

This is what I have;

http://www.busybeetools.com/products/TH ... NEIDA.html

[potatoflinger]

Thanks Gippeto!

If it must be pulled through, then it will probably not work for my application. My hope was that I could push material through because my blower will shred material as it is being sucked up. Without the blower pushing material through the cyclone, nothing will be shredded.

I guess the next option is to either build a separator with a separate vacuum pulling material through it, or I could just make a box with a filter in it that would allow air to escape but not leaves.

[Technician1002]

There are push through designs. Our industrial dust vac system uses an open top design with an inflated canvas chef hat. When cycled off, the hat collapses and self empties down the middle into the collection bin. Ours does use a collection drum instead of a bag.

Here is a blow through design.

[Heimo]

here is a video of someone who have already built one
[youtube][/youtube]

[potatoflinger]

here is a video of someone who have already built one

That looks rather promising. I might have to do some testing with this type of setup. Thanks!

Edit: After looking through the web site where the project was posted, I found out that the blower was indeed downstream from the cyclone. Must be too good to be true...

[quinn whitsitt]

great job and have a great day