Abstract A cyclone is widely used in the industrial world for the particle separation process. Many geometrical and operational parameters affect the cyclone separator performance. The main aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of the position of the vortex limiter and the insertion of the metal rod on the heat transfer, flow field, and cyclone performance using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. Vortex limiter position varies among 160 mm, 320 mm, and 480 mm. In this work, the Reynolds stress model (RSM) is used to simulate the flow, and the Eulerian-Lagrangian approach is employed to predict the movement of particles in the cyclone. Simulation results show that the insertion of a metal rod increases the heat rate and collection efficiency by about 22% and 13%, respectively. The results also confirm that the vortex limiter position is proven to affect the performance of cyclone significantly.