Okay, I'm circling in, so to speak) on my separator design, and am thinking of a tall separator (like the one Bulldog8 has built), with a rectangular inlet (like retired2's).
My question is whether the vertical angle of the inlet has any bearing on separation efficiency. It's my understanding of the postings here that the more rotations of air in the separation chamber, the better collection of fine particles; a tall separator allows more rotations. In that case, it makes sense to me that the best placement of the inlet port is right under the top lid of the separator, and parallel to the lid (horizontal). That way, the air flow, as I understand it, takes a shallow spiral path.
On the other hand, Bill Pentz makes a big deal about having an inlet to his cyclone plan that is angled downward, with the downward flow reinforced by an internal air ramp. The air flow takes a much steeper spiral flow.
I realize that a cyclone with a cone is not directly comparable to a Thien separator, but does angling airflow downward, as Pentz recommends, make any sense in a Thein baffle separator? My sense is that while it might improve air flow through the separator, separation efficiency, esp. fine particles, would suffer, so I'm leaning toward going with a horizontal inlet. Any thoughts?
My question is whether the vertical angle of the inlet has any bearing on separation efficiency. It's my understanding of the postings here that the more rotations of air in the separation chamber, the better collection of fine particles; a tall separator allows more rotations. In that case, it makes sense to me that the best placement of the inlet port is right under the top lid of the separator, and parallel to the lid (horizontal). That way, the air flow, as I understand it, takes a shallow spiral path.
On the other hand, Bill Pentz makes a big deal about having an inlet to his cyclone plan that is angled downward, with the downward flow reinforced by an internal air ramp. The air flow takes a much steeper spiral flow.
I realize that a cyclone with a cone is not directly comparable to a Thien separator, but does angling airflow downward, as Pentz recommends, make any sense in a Thein baffle separator? My sense is that while it might improve air flow through the separator, separation efficiency, esp. fine particles, would suffer, so I'm leaning toward going with a horizontal inlet. Any thoughts?