Remember, we are dealing with a cyclone separator on the top here. There is an air escape pipe at the top which comes over the side and vent downward. Other than the inflow pipe from the mixing tank, that is the only other top outlet and it is above the inflow. So if you fill the separator to the inflow it will clog and probable blow some sand out the air vent. In the dry air of Chama you could probably leave some sand at the bottom, but if it gets damp, it will not flow freely. In most industrial setting using a cyclone separator, the bottom is not valved but open to outflow of the material being moved. In discussing the setup with the work crew, they only had a guess at the time of session E how much sand could be dumped into the mixing tank at the bottom at any one time and still have good outflow to the top. That was something they would determine once it was fully working. In case someone wonders, I have a degree in process engineering.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2017 12:46PM by rninrvr.