Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Abbreviations, a , velocity of sound; ρ , density; Pk, represents the generation of turbulent kinetic energy due to the velocity gradient; Gk , is the generation of turbulent kinetic energy due to foating forces; µ t , is the turbulent viscosity; C 1ε y C 2ε , constants; σ k , σ ε , are the turbulent prandtl numbers for the k-epsilon equations respectively; Y M , represents the contribution of fuctuations of the expansion in the compressible turbulence; ρ , is the density; h S , are the source terms which include contributions due only to the forces of the body; M t , turbulent mach number; ij Ω , is the rotation tensor seen from the reference point of the angular velocity ( κ w ) Introduction Cyclonic separators are currently widely applied and accepted at industrial level due to their simplicity of construction, low operating costs, the absence of moving parts, low energy requirements 1 and to be adaptable to A wide range of operation, its use covers industries such as cement, wood, chemical, oil and food. However, these separation devices could optimize the cost-beneft ratio by manipulating their performance parameters, thus improving the technical conditions required in their design and subsequent manufacture, which can be achieved with a Good understanding of the dynamics of fow within. Despite its apparent simplicity, the dynamics of fow in a cyclone is complex, 2 it includes features such as velocities, pressures, vorticity and in some cases the presence of several annular areas of reverse fow, for which the confned vortex fow theories do not predict satisfactorily observed phenomena. 3 On the other hand, the problem associated with the detailed mathematical modeling of the fow profles involves the solution of strongly coupled nonlinear partial differential equations - momentum and mass conservation, whose complete analytical solution is not yet known, however, Solve with a discretization method if an appropriate tool is available for the numerical solution. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation models provide an economical means to understand the complex fow dynamics within these equipment and how they are affected by changes in the original design or operating conditions, 4 These calculations can be used over a wide range of fows, reducing the need for experimental tests, allowing predictions to be made in the design process and in the evaluation of industrial processes, reducing factors such as costs, risks and time, 5 Thus providing a basis for decision making leading to the design of better performing systems. The solution methodology for CFD models is to subdivide the domain into a large number of control volumes and convert the partial differential equations by integration on these control volumes into their algebraic equivalents. 6 The result is a set of simultaneous algebraic equations that can be solved using iterative methods to obtain the feld of dependent variable distributions relative to boundary conditions that defne the specifc problem, such as velocities and pressures. This work simulates and evaluates the operation of one of these proposed geometries with the help of FLUENT ® specialized software, which solves systems of partial differential equations using the discretization method of fnite volumes, and allows to observe the behavior of the gas in the Cyclone interior, when comparing the gas phase tangential velocity profles of a cyclone with geometry and fow conditions given by 7 and compare these results with experimental data. Numerical analysis The equations applied for the numerical analysis in this study are the mass conservation and Navier-Stokes averaged Reynolds equations (RANS), to solve these equations the CFD code for the solution of the computational model was used. The mass conservation and Navier-Stokes averaged Reynolds (RANS) equations in three dimensions are solved under the following assumptions, steady-state, Newtonian fuid, turbulent, incompressible, and three-dimensional fow. Int J Petrochem Sci Eng. 2017;2(2):66‒72 66 © 2017 Pankowski et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Application of computational fuid dynamics to study the infuence of turbulence models in the behavior of the cyclonic separators Volume 2 Issue 2 - 2017 Héctor Zambrano Meza, Linda Margarita Medina Department of Physics and Mathematics, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, México Correspondence: Héctor Zambrano Meza, Department of Physics and Mathematics, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, México, Email hectorj.zambranom@gmail.com Received: March 01, 2017 | Published: March 22, 2017 Abstract This paper applies computational fluid dynamics to study the influence of turbulence models in the behavior of cyclonic separators, we used different turbulence models to model the behavior of single phase air into the cyclone separator, between them, Standard k-epsilon, RNG k-epsilon, Realizable k-epsilon and Spalart Allamara model, employment numerically with FLUENT ® code in its version 6.3, using the finite volume method, we compared the tangential velocity profiles obtained numerically with experimental data, the finite volume method applied to fluid dynamics problems is a useful and important tool for the conceptualization of the phenomenon to be studied, establishing a relationship between the approximation schemes used and the physical effects involved in transport phenomena analyze. Keywords, cyclones, computational fluid dynamics, turbulence International Journal of Petrochemical Science & Engineering Research Article Open Access