The hydrocyclone is an equipment widely used by industry in cases involving solid-liquid separation, but still little used in irrigated agriculture in Brazil. This study evaluated the performance of this equipment as a pre-filter of solid particles, from erosive processes and the silting of water resources. The tests were performed with a hydrocyclone of "Rietema" geometry, with a diameter of 19.2 cm at the cylindrical part operating with outflows ranging between 10 m³ h-1 and 27 m³ h-1. The materials used in particulate suspension were clay loam soil and sand from river. The results showed that the average maximum head loss was 52 kPa and 47 kPa for aqueous suspensions of sand and soil, respectively. Its best performance occurred operating with slurry of sand, presenting total efficiency of 92.3% for 26.9 m³ h-1 of flow rate. It was concluded that such equipment is most effective to remove particles of sand, thus it can be used as a pre-filter in irrigation systems.
solid-liquid separation; pre-filter; localized irrigation
