McLanahan Agricultural Hydrocyclones an Effective Solution for Sand Recovery
In 2002, McLanahan Corporation introduced Hydrocyclones to the dairy industry to accompany Sand-Manure Separation Systems for fine sand removal. Field-proven after more than a century in the aggregate and mining industries, Hydrocyclones are used for fines recovery, dewatering, desliming and classification.
In commercial aggregate production, the goals of an sand producer are the same as a dairy producer — prevent sand from entering storage ponds and produce a maximum amount of high-quality sand product. Hydrocyclones are a perfect fit for the dairy industry.
Applied to a manure system, Hydrocyclones can be used as both a primary and secondary means of sand-manure separation as well as for sand and grit removal in pre-digestion separation. Alone, these simple-to-operate systems offer primary sand separation in applications where the manure is highly diluted, such as in flush and flush-flume systems. They are also used as a means of secondary separation following conventional sand-manure separation systems to keep fine sand from damaging pumps or settling in manure storages and anaerobic digestion systems.
Are Hydrocyclones Effective for Increasing Sand Recovery?
Agricultural Hydrocyclones increase sand recovery in conventional sand separation systems by 5 to 10%. Depending on the gradation of sand the dairy is using, Hydrocyclones can increase overall sand recovery to as high as 95%. Higher sand recovery rates mean dairies can recycle more sand and spend less money buying new sand.
How Hydrocyclones Recover Sand
Hydrocyclones are shaped like a hollow cone. They have no moving parts. Diluted manure enters the feed inlet of the Hydrocyclone and begins to circulate at high speeds in the upper section of the cone. Gravity pulls the sand located within the manure feed to the inner walls of the cone, accelerating it downward and separating it from the liquid portion of the manure feed. The sand discharges out the bottom of the cone through the underflow regulator, usually onto a Sand-Manure Separator for additional moisture and organic content removal.
The liquid portion of the manure, as well as some fine particles, are pulled upward out of the Hydrocyclone and exit through the overflow pipe.
McLanahan Agricultural Hydrocyclone Benefits
Besides the cost-savings from recovering more sand, Hydrocyclones provide several additional benefits. First, more sand is recycled for beddding. Second, Hydrocyclones provide dairies with manure containing minimal bypass sand, which is important for dairies considering longer-term manure storage, anaerobic digestion or nutrient separation. Third, McLanahan Hydrocyclones are easy to maintain with replaceable, rubber-lined components that reduce abrasive wear.
Hydrocyclones can handle flows ranging from 180 to 2,000 gallons per minute, within a small footprint. No matter how big or small, McLanahan Agricultural Hydrocyclones can simplify sand and manure handling on your dairy by recycling sand bedding and minimizing sand bypass.