Principles of Perforated Basket Centrifuge
The perforated basket centrifuge operates on the principle of centrifugal force, which separates solids from liquids in a slurry by spinning the mixture at high speeds.
The centrifugal force drives the liquid through the perforations in the basket, leaving the solid particles behind.
Construction
Basket: Cylindrical basket with perforated walls.
Drive System: Motor and spindle that rotate the basket at high speeds.
Housing: Outer casing that contains the basket and collects the separated liquid.
Feed System: Mechanism to introduce the slurry into the basket.
Discharge System: Mechanism to remove the separated solids from the basket.
Control Panel: For controlling the operational parameters like speed and timing.
Working
Loading: The slurry is fed into the rotating basket.
Centrifugation: As the basket spins, the centrifugal force drives the liquid through the perforations in the basket wall.
Filtration: The solid particles are retained on the inner surface of the basket, forming a cake.
Discharge: After the separation is complete, the machine is stopped, and the solid cake is discharged manually or through an automated system.
Collection: The separated liquid is collected in the housing and drained off through an outlet.
Uses
Chemical and pharmaceutical industries for solid-liquid separation.
Food and beverage industry for clarification and purification processes.
Wastewater treatment for sludge dewatering.
Mining and mineral processing for ore and mineral separation.
Merits
Effective for separating fine particles.
High filtration efficiency.
Relatively simple and robust construction.
Can handle large volumes of slurry.
Demerits
Requires manual intervention for cake removal.
Limited to batch processing.
Potential for clogging of perforations.
Higher maintenance due to moving parts.