DISC CENTRIFUGE

INSTRUCTOR NAME: NAME: N.L. SAMPATH

MRS. I. R. SAMARATHUNGA SERIAL NUMBER: 18/IT/CH/040

GROUP MEMBERS: FIELD: CHEMICAL

1. R.M.S. RANDIKA DATE:

2. R.M.S.S.K. RATHNAYAKE PERFORMANCE: 16/09/2020
3. I.G.C.R. SAMARANAYAKE SUBMISSION: /10/2020
4. N.S. RANASINGHE
5. L.P.S. SARANGA
6. G.A.S. SHASHIKALA
OBJECTIVES

Separate two mutually immiscible liquids from emulsion using a disc type centrifuge.
PROCEDURE

ri, ro, rw and R’ was measured of the disassembled centrifuge. The water and the oil heights in the aspiratory bottle
was measured. Water and the oil was stirred to make an emulsion. The centrifuge was switched on and it was
allowed to come to an optimum speed. The suspension was transferred to the centrifuge. The two coming
streams were collected and measured, heavy liquid and light liquid separately. After separation the centrifuge was
turned off. The final heights of the oil and water remaining in the aspiratory bottle was measured. The specific
gravity of the light and heavy liquids were found using a specific gravity bottle.
CALCULATIONS

W 1−Wb 1
Specific gravity of light liquid =
Ww−Wb 1

75.6669 g−33.9875 g
=
83.3588 g−33.9875 g

= 0.8442

Wh−Wb 2
Specific gravity of heavy liquid =
Ww−Wb 2

83.3588 g−33.8548 g
=
83.3588 g−33.8548 g

= 1.000

3.145 cm
Inner weir radius ri =
2

ri = 1.573 cm

10.525 cm
radius of the bowl ro =
2
(outer radius of the bowl)
r o = 5.263 cm
4.820 cm
Radius of the hole in the disk R’ =
2
R’ = 2.410 cm
4.000 cm
Radius of the outer weir position =
2
r’ w = 2.000 cm
surface area of the cylindrical aspiratory bottle = π r2

= π (14 cm)2
= 615.752 cm 2
light liquid volume after separation V 1 =2220 mL
heavy liquid volume after separation V 2 =2980 mL
position of line of separation R is given by,
V1
( R2- ri2 ) = ( ro2 – R2 )
V2

2220 mL
( R2- (1.573cm)2 ) = ((5.263cm)2 – R2 )
2980 mL
 R = 3.639 cm

Calculated R =3.639 cm

Measured R’ = 2.410 cm

Density of the light liquid (kg/m3) ρL = 0.8422 ×1000=842.2 kg/m3

Density of the heavy liquid (kg/m 3) ρH =1.000 ×1000=1000 kg/m3

Necessary radius to weir position is given by,

ρ L ( R 2- r i 2 ) = ( R2 - rw2 ) ρH

842.2( 3.6392- 1.5732 ) = ( 3.6392 - rw2 )1000

rw = 2.043 cm

calculated rw = 2.043 cm

Measured rw’ = 2.000 cm

Material in of heavy liquid =615.752 cm2 × [ 8.3−2.9 ] cm×10-6×1000 kg / m3

= 3.325 kg

Material in of light liquid = 615.752 cm2 × [ (16.58.3)−(7.1−2.9) ] cm×10-6×1000 kg / m3

= 2.0743 kg

Material out of heavy liquid =2980 mL ×1000 kg /m3 ×10-6

= 2.98 kg

Material out of light liquid = 2220 mL × 842.2kg /m3 ×10-6

=1.869 kg

Material balance for this operation,

Material in = Material out + Losses

Losses = Material in - Material out

Losses = ( 2.0743+3.325 ) kg−( 1.869+2.98 ) kg

Losses = 0.5503 kg
DISCUSSION

In our practical we separated a mixture of diesel and water using the disc centrifuge. It was our aim to find the line
of separation radius. We observed that R > R’. If R > R’, the line of separation is outside the holes, the
discharging light phase is free of heavy phase but the heavy phase contains light phase. So in our experiment
diesel is free from water but the separated water contains a small amount of diesel.

A centrifuge is a device, which 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 separates solid materials
from liquids in slurry and therefore plays an important role in wastewater treatment, chemical, oil and food
processing industries. There are several factors that affect the performance of a decanter centrifuge and some
design heuristics to be followed which are dependent upon given applications.

The main application of decanter centrifuges is to separate large amounts of solids from liquids on a continuous
basis. They are also used to wash and dry various solids in industry, such as polystyrene beads, clarify liquids
and concentrate solids.

Petrochemical/oil Industry Examples

 Refining
 De-watering
 Oil well drilling
 Lubricating oil additives
 Waste oil stream recycling
Industrial and Biological Wastewater Treatment Industry Examples
 Municipal wastewater
 Cleaning of wash water

The cream separation is a very important unit operation in dairy industry. The cream or fat is taken out of milk for
standardization purpose. Besides, cream is also required to prepare some value added products as ghee, butter,
etc. Cream is usually separated from milk by the centrifugation process.

Sometimes gravity separation may be too slow because of the closeness of densities of the particle and the fluid,
or because of the association forces holding components together, as in emulsions like whole milk. In that case
centrifugation helps in separation of the components on the basis of differences in their densities.

• The centrifuge increases the forces on particles many fold.

• Thus the particles that do not settle readily or at all in gravity settlers can often be separated from fluids by
centrifugal force.

• The relative settling velocities of small particles are not changed, but the disturbing effects of Brownian motion
and free convection currents are overcome.

The equipment using this principle of separation is known as a centrifuge. The centrifuges are used for:

• separation of immiscible liquids,

• clarification of liquids by removal of small amounts of solids, and

• for removal of solids from liquids

Centrifuges are also used for centrifugal filtration, where the centrifugal force is used (not the pressure difference)
to separate the solids through a filter medium.

The disc stack centrifuge is a versatile device, which may be used for separating solid/liquid mixtures in
continuous, semi-continuous and batch configurations. All except some batch-operated machines are able to
handle toxic, flammable and volatile feeds at throughputs up to 200 m 3 h−1. Liquid-liquid mixtures can be
separated and with more sophisticated units a three (two liquid and one solid) phase separation is achievable. In
all cases, a sufficient density difference must exist between the phases present in the feed.
RESULTS

description Measured value Calculated value

Calculated radius of the line of separation (R) 3.639 cm
Measured radius of the center of the hole in the disc (R’) 2.410 cm
Calculated radius to weir position rw 2.043 cm
Measured radius to weir position rw’ 2.000 cm

Calculated material loss = 0.5503 kg

REFERENCES

[Link]

[Link]