What is the separation factor of a centrifuge?

Thread Content

This post was last edited by Centrifuge--Ding Ling on August 23, 2021, at 13:10. Centrifuges are used everywhere in our lives; they’re essential for any chemical or pharmaceutical industry. They’re utilized for everything from plucking feathers off chickens to the production of nuclear weapons! A centrifuge is a machine that uses centrifugal force to separate mixtures within a liquid mixture. Also known as a centrifuge or dehydrator. 　　The centrifuge separation factor Fr is an important parameter representing the performance of a centrifuge; it characterizes the centrifugal force field. Numerically, it equals the centrifugal force generated when a unit weight of material rotates (Fr = rw²/g). The larger this value, the higher the separation efficiency. For hard-to-separate materials with small particles and high liquid-phase viscosity, a centrifuge with a large separation factor is required. Currently, the separation factor Fr values of industrial centrifuges range from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of g. Generally, for suspensions where solid particles are separated into sizes of 10–50 μm, the viscosity does not exceed 0.01 Pa·s, and filtration is relatively easy, the separation factor should not be too high; a value of Fr = 400–700 is appropriate. For dewatering fabrics, Fr = 600–1000 can be used ； For suspensions with high dispersity, high viscosity, and difficulty in filtration, a higher separation factor must be used. Generally, the Fr of three-legged filter centrifuges is 200–2000. For horizontal screw discharge decanter centrifuges, the Fr value ranges from 1,500 to 4,000 g; in special cases, it can reach 6,000 to 10,000 g (such models exist abroad, but are rarely used). The Fr value of the butterfly separator ranges from 5000 to 12000. The Fr value of tubular separators ranges from 10,000 to 25,000.