Decanter centrifuge
A centrifuge is a device that employs a high rotational speed to separate components of different densities. This becomes relevant in the majority of industrial jobs where solids, liquids and gases are merged into a single mixture and the separation of these different phases is necessary. A decanter centrifuge (also known as solid bowl centrifuge) separates continuously solid materials from liquids in the slurry, and therefore plays an important role in the wastewater treatment, chemical, oil, and food processing industries. There are several factors that affect the performance of a decanter centrifuge, and some design heuristics are to be followed which are dependent upon given applications. Operating principle The operating principle of a decanter centrifuge is based on separation via buoyancy. Naturally, a component with a higher density would fall to the bottom of a mixture, while the less dense component would be suspended above it. A decanter centrifuge increases the rate of settling through the use of continuous rotation, producing a G-force equivalent to between 1000 and 4000 G's. This reduces the settling time of the components by a large magnitude, whereby mixtures previously having to take hours to settle can be settled in a matter of seconds using