It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that we introduce this volume
which comprises the papers accepted for the 4th International Conference
on Hydrocyclones held in Southampton from 23rd to 25th September 1992.
As the name implies, this is the fourth Conference in the series, with
the previous ones held in Cambridge in 1980, Bath in 1984 and Oxford in
1987. The papers cover a wide span of activities, from fundamental
research to advances in industrial practice and, as in the earlier
volumes, make a significant contribution of lasting value to the
technical literature on hydrocyclones. Hydrocyclones continue to widen
their appeal to engineers; besides their traditional role in mineral
processing they now attract a lot of attention in chemical engineering,
the oil and gas industry, power generation, the food industry, textiles,
metal working, waste water treatment, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and
other industries. The reason for this continuously increasing attention
is, as David Parkinson (General Manager of Conoco (UK)) said recently,
that" ... a hydrocyclone is an engineering dream, a machine with no
moving parts." Yet as this Volume clearly shows, the hydrocyclone can do
so many things and do them well, whether the application is in
solid-liquid, liquid-liquid or liquid-gas separation.
