In order to fully understand how a decanter centrifuge operates, we must first define what a centrifuge does. In many industrial jobs, solid material often mixes with liquids, contaminating water supplies or turning mud into sludge.
A decanter centrifuge is useful in that it separates solids and liquids, and has become an essential component of water waste facilities and the chemical, oil, and food processing industries. Moreover, without a centrifuge, many of these companies would become so inefficient they could not function.
1) Inlet zone
The inlet zone accelerates the feed slurry up to the speed of the bowl. A properly engineered inlet zone keeps any degradation of the feed solids to a minimum as well as avoiding disturbance of the sediment in the bowl. A number of feed zone specifications are available for decanter centrifuges, each designed to ensure maximum performance in conjunction with a specific process.
2) Screw conveyor
The key to good decanter performance lies in the efficient, effective scrolling of the sedimented solids. The design of the screw conveyor is therefore crucial. You must have the expertise needed to match the demands involved in specific industrial processes with specific configurations of flight pitch, lead angle and differential speed, in order to secure the best possible results.
3) Solids Discharge Section
Depending on the application, the consistency of the separated solids can vary from a dry powder to a paste. The configuration of the discharge zone is therefore chosen to enable such “cakes” to exit as effectively as possible. Innovative designs enables erosion-prone components used in the solids discharge zone to be replaced on site at low cost and with a minimum of disturbance to production.
4) Liquid Discharge Section
In a two-phase decanter, the liquid level is regulated by dam plates. In a three-phase centrifuge when operating in a three-phase mode, each phase discharges over a set of dam plates into separate baffled compartments in the casing.