In this study, a single cyclone separator composed of three cylinders of different diameters and one vortex finder was developed for size-selective sampling of particles. This cyclone separator had three particle traps, that is, dust bins, each of which was connected to each of the cylinders. A single cyclone separator with three stages was designed and manufactured. The numerically predicted sampling fractions agreed well with the experimental data. From both numerical and experimental results, three distinct sampling fraction curves with different geometric mean diameters (GMD) appeared and the size selective sampling of particles was possible using the single cyclone separator with three stages. Then, the flow rate of aerosol introduced to the cyclone separator was varied to change the GMD of particles collected on the bottom of each particle trap. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.