Industrial Centrifuge Equipment: Customization Options

In every industry, when companies are on the hunt for new separation technology, there's something truly powerful that often gets overlooked: customization. Sure, you can buy some generic industrial centrifuge equipment out of the catalog, and it'll probably be able to do the job. However, will it optimize your specific slurry, your specific plant conditions, and your specific production goals? That's the real difference. Consider it this way – you wouldn't wear a one-size-fits-all suit to a business meeting, would you? Making the best impression requires you be selective. In the same way, a really efficient and cost-effective separation process often requires a solution that is tailored to the unique challenges of the separation process. In these last 30+ years, innovative manufacturers have gone beyond traditional models, developing the ability to achieve such a deep level of customization that it allows them to elevate a capable machine to be the ideal tool for your operation. It's certainly not about a simple adjustment of one or two configurations; it's about completely re-engineering the centrifuge, and everything that surrounds it, to suit your needs. So what do you think can be customized? The range of possibilities may astonish you.

Starting Off Customization: It Begins with Your Application

Considerable detail and focus is placed on your application before any components are drawn up that initiate the customization process. A customer's application should always be the foremost consideration, and a customization provider that understands this will dig deeper than just asking what industry you are in. A provider that understands separation will focus on all aspects that define your application.

Considerations such as the physical and chemical attributes of your feed material are of the utmost importance. Components such as particle size, solid concentration, fluid viscosity, and the abrasiveness or corrosion of the material, as well as any sanitary restrictions for food or pharmaceutical applications all play a role. Your target goals are also crucial. Are you trying to dispose or sell a super-dry cake, or are you aiming at achieving the highest quality centrate for water reuse? Throughput is another key requirement. What are your current, and what do you anticipate, your future throughput capacities will be? Finally, what does your plant look like? Available space, climate, and considerations with upstream and downstream processes play a role as well. This thorough and comprehensive analysis provides the foundation for each of the customization decisions and tailors the final machine to be more than just a separation device, but a cohesive, integrated component of your production line.

Customizations to the Core Mechaniocs and Material

Once the application is thoroughly defined, engineers can begin refining the heart and bones of the machine. This is the stage where the engineering customization becomes tangible and affects the durability and functionality of the machine.

One of the primary considerations is the construction material. If the machine will be dealing with corrosive chemicals, critical wetted parts like the bowl, conveyor, and casing can be fully lined, or constructed from, specialized stainless steels, duplex steels, super alloys like Hastelloy, or even some non-metallic coatings. This selection will drive the machine's lifespan in your environment.

Next are the designs and the mechanics. There is scope for optimizing the length-to-diameter ratio of the scroll and the bowl. For example, a longer design provides more area for the settlement of finer particles, while a shorter and steeper design is more efficient for fine solid load handling. Pitch of the flight, type of beach, and design of the discharge ports, among other the other design characteristics, can be tailored to the desired characteristics of the dryness and handling of the cake to be produced. For very abrasive materials, tough hard surfacing with tungsten carbide or ceramic tile on the areas of the equipment subject to wear to prolong servicing intervals. Such mechanical customizations are made to ensure that the industrial centrifuge equipment has a specific purpose and that it does not only function, but does so effectively and reliably in enduring the specific wear and tear of your process.

Drive Systems and Control Customizations

The 'muscle' and the 'brain' of the centrifuges is yet another area of considerable customization with regard to power, control and overall ease of use.

Even the drive system can be tailored to your liking. You can go with the traditional option, a fixed-frequency motor with a gearbox for constant duty, or go more advanced with a variable frequency drive (VFD) system. A VFD makes it possible to control the bowl and conveyor speeds separately. This means the person operating the machine can control, or make adjustments to, the separation process depending on how the feed is coming to ensure it is running to peak performance. This is a major plus for processes that have inconsistent incoming materials. 

For your control panel, customization options include a local start/stop control station to a complete PLC system with a color touchscreen that controls the operation of the whole process. This can be set up to control complex start and stop routines, keep track of parameters like vibration and bearing temperature, and be integrated into your plant Distributed Control System (DCS). Protections can include machine and process safeguard so on defined failure modes, the system will issue alarms and go into an automatic shutdown. Smart controls are critical for data-driven operations with a focus on process repeatability. 

Why Customization is a Smart Choice 

Buying a customized centrifuge is more of an investment than an additional cost. The returns are seen across the operation. The cost-benefit is clear and significant as you can see.

To start: optimizing your machine will allow you to achieve the highest performance given your requirements. One model will separate solids more deeply, create a more dry solid cake, and produce a more clear liquid stream. This translates to higher product quality and lower costs associated to waste disposal or moisture of the excess solids. Next, is the offensives and more reliable machine. Less unplanned downtime, more time between major overhauls, and a plummeting total cost of ownership. A custom machine will integrate and operate more smoothly. Designing an equipment to your spatial constraints and seamlessly connecting to your current piping and conveyors allows more flexibility to your operational system. Less installation time and a quicker learning time for your operators is the outcome. Customization allows you to not adapt your operational system to a predefined machine. Instead, to fit a custom machine to your operational processes.

Working with a Partner on Customization

The most important thing to consider when starting this process is how to determine your partner's expertise in taking standard concepts to custom made machines. Consider a provider with measurable experience not only in constructing centrifuges, but also in isolating solutions in different fields. HUADA is a good example. Their experience in construction spans the chemical, pharmaceutical, mining, and wastewater industries in addition to having rich cross industry experience. 

Your partner should begin with engineering collaboration, not sales, and this should include their in-house R&D. Ideally, they should have a whole research and development division dedicated to this. Their ability to divide large projects and manage custom orders means their production facilities are dispersed. Most importantly, their service division should be closely related to production, and this shaft be clear to make them customize equipment to be field. This should make sure your industrial centrifuge vision equipment is high performing to your desired expectations.