In the conventional Conical Hydrocyclone, feed enters tangentially. Designs differ in the geometry on the inlet, the underflow orifice, the vortex finder, the roof and the cone in order to achieve the desired type of application, thickening, clarification or classification.
The liquid suspension is injected into the hydrocyclone in such a way as to create the vortex and, depending upon the relative densities of the two phases, the centrifugal acceleration will cause the dispersed phase to move away from or towards the central core of the vortex.
A hydrocyclone will normally have a cylindrical section at the top where liquid is being fed tangentially, and a conical base.