# Simulation Analysis of Cyclone Separator for Separation of Cenospheres
## 1 Introduction  
Cool is widely used to generate electricity around the world, with about 41% of global electricity being generated by coal-fired thermal power plants, which is expected to increase to about 44% by 2030 [1]. In 2020, the U.S. generated 76 million tons of coal combustion byproducts, 44.5% of which were recycled, with the remainder being transported to landfills and ash ponds for disposal [2]. The largest share of coal combustion by-products is represented by fly ash, which is produced worldwide at a rate of about 750 million tons per year and growing [3, 4]. Previously, due to the low cost of land and the immaturity of fly ash recycling technology, fly ash was simply disposed of in landfills [5, 6], which put enormous pressure on the environment; nowadays, due to the rising cost of land, the cost of landfills of fly ash has also increased, and with the increase in awareness of environmental protection, recycling fly ash is receiving more and more attention, meaning that many value-added applications have been proposed [7, 8, 9, 10]. Recycling fly ash not only reduces landfill costs and land occupation but also alleviates the ecological pollution caused by fly ash and creates considerable economic benefits. The environmental impact of fly ash can be minimized by physically separating it and using it as a raw material for a variety of value-added products [11]. Cenospheres are hollow spherical particles that are one of the important value-added materials in fly ash. The unique properties of cenospheres include being lightweight and having a good fill factor, enhanced insulation, improved flow characteristics, low water absorption, high compressive strength, chemical inertness, and heat resistance, making them suitable for a wide range of industrial applications [12, 13, 14]. Cenospheres are spherical with a small surface area to volume ratio, requiring less resin, binder, and water to wet the surface. This property makes them a desired filler for polymers and various polymercomposites such as polyurethane composites; polyester composites; functional gradient materials; synthetic polymer foams; and high-impact strength nylon composites. In addition, the electrical properties of polymers can be altered from insulating to conductive materials by plating copper on the cenospheres and incorporating them into organic polymers [15; 16; 17; 18]. The outer shells of cenospheres mainly consist of an aluminum silicate phase, a material widely used in the manufacture of high-temperature aluminum syntactic foams because of its excellent thermal stability. This foam material not only has high energy absorption and damping properties but also shows its superiority in the manufacture of automotive brake rotors and differential covers. In addition, aluminum composite foams exhibit more significant electromagnetic shielding than conventional base alloys. Nickel-coated cenospheres also show potential for electromagnetic shielding and microwave absorption, a discovery that provides a new direction for research in the field of materials science [14; 19; 20]. As a mullite-rich advanced material, cenospheres show promise for a wide range of applications in areas as diverse as diesel engine components, refractory materials, heat exchangers, glass remelting in industrial furnaces, steel soaking, and aluminum alloy recycling. In addition, cenosphere ceramic foam coatings are considered to have significant development potential due to their high thermal stability, low coefficient of thermal expansion, and excellent resistance to creep, crack propagation, and thermal shock in extreme oxidizing and corrosive environments. These properties make them particularly important in modern industrial applications, especially in environments where a high degree of material reliability and durability is required [8; 21]. In construction materials science, cenospheres are recognized as an innovative lightweight additive suitable for the preparation of low-density, low-water release cementitious composites.