In this study, the influence of air inlet layout on the flow field distribution and particle movement trajectory for the vertical turbo air classifier are analyzed comparatively using the numerical simulation method. The air inlet layout adjustment can increase the axial velocity and turbulent dissipation rate at the feeding inlet and do not generate the axial negative velocity, which improves powder material pneumatic transportation and dispersion capacity; the air inlet layout adjustment can match the airflow rotation direction with the rotation direction of the rotor cage, which can eliminate the vortices in the rotor cage channel effectively. Moreover, the particle movement time is shortened and fast classification is completed, which can decrease the particle agglomeration probability and weaken the ‘fish-hook’ effect. The optimization scheme of the air inlet layout is Type-BC. In accordance with the numerical simulation results, the calcium carbonate classification experimental results indicate that the classification performance of the classifier is improved using Type-BC.