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How To Handle High Viscosity, High Solids Materials?

In modern separation processes, the properties of materials place increasingly higher demands on equipment. In particular, when faced with high-viscosity and high-solid content materials, traditional separation equipment often encounters bottlenecks in efficiency, accuracy, and even stability. However, with the continuous development of separation technology, tubular centrifuges have become a powerful tool for dealing with the challenges of such complex materials with their super centrifugal force, high speed, and continuous and stable operating performance. This article will conduct an in-depth analysis from the aspects of technical principles, equipment advantages, typical applications, and customer cases to explore how tubular centrifuges can efficiently handle the separation problems of high viscosity and high solid content.

What are high-viscosity, high-solid-content materials?

When performing industrial separation, the “difficulty of handling” of different materials often depends on their physical properties. High-viscosity, high-solid-content materials refer to the following two categories or their combination:

High-viscosity materials: poor fluidity and slow flow rate, such as fermentation broth, colloidal suspension, fine chemical raw materials, etc. This type of material is difficult to separate, easy to clog equipment, and easy to form sediment.

High-solid-content materials: refers to the suspension with a high content of solid particles (such as 5%-40%), such as sludge, ore pulp, Chinese medicine concentrate, etc., with the characteristics of high concentration and high density, and ordinary equipment is difficult to achieve efficient and continuous separation.

This type of material is commonly found in the following industries:

Biopharmaceuticals: fermentation broth, cell broth;

Fine chemicals: catalyst slurry, functional additives;

Food industry: yeast slurry, plant extract;

Environmental protection industry: high-concentration sewage, sludge;

Traditional Chinese medicine field: Chinese medicine extract, precipitate.

For these high-viscosity and high-solid materials, the problems that companies generally face include:

Low separation efficiency;

Long separation time;

Easy to block the pipe and cause heavy equipment wear;

High cost and complex operation.

In this context, tubular centrifuges have become an important choice for solving such problems with their natural structural advantages and continuous technological innovation.

Working principle of tubular centrifuge

1. High aspect ratio and short sedimentation path

The drum is slender and tubular, with a length much greater than its diameter. The liquid forms a stable annular flow during high-speed rotation. The solids are quickly thrown to the inner wall under the action of centrifugal force, and the liquid phase is discharged from the top. This structure is particularly suitable for processing liquids with high solid content and high viscosity.

2. No stirring, low shear force

There is no stirring device inside the tubular centrifuge, and the entire separation process is gentle, avoiding damage to sensitive materials such as proteins and cells, and is suitable for industries requiring high purity and low damage.

3. Continuous feeding and discharging system

Through continuous feeding and continuous liquid discharge (or intermittent slag discharge) mode, long-term stable operation is achieved to avoid blockage problems, which is particularly critical for high-viscosity and high-solid materials.

Technical advantages of tubular centrifuges for high-viscosity and high-solid materials

Advantage 1: Not easy to clog, easy to maintain

For high-viscosity materials, traditional centrifuges are often prone to problems such as feed pipe clogging and slag discharge difficulties. The tubular centrifuge greatly reduces the probability of clogging by optimizing the feed port angle, flow channel design, and special slag discharge structure (such as electric slag discharge and pneumatic slag discharge).

Advantage 2: High separation accuracy

Due to its strong centrifugal force, effective separation can be achieved even when the solid-liquid density is close or the particles are extremely fine (<1μm), which is particularly suitable for high-solid materials.

Advantage 3: Adapt to different fluid characteristics

The feed pressure, temperature and speed can be adjusted according to different materials, with strong adaptability, and can be “tailored” for separation solutions for different high-viscosity and high-solid materials.

Advantage 4: Compact structure and small footprint

Compared with horizontal screw centrifuges or other large separation equipment, tubular centrifuges are small in size and flexible in installation, especially suitable for laboratories, pilot workshops or factories with limited space.

Analysis of typical application cases

Case 1: A biopharmaceutical company processes high-concentration fermentation broth

An international biopharmaceutical company uses high-density E. coli fermentation, and the product viscosity is as high as 300cp and the solid content exceeds 10%. The traditional horizontal screw centrifuge cannot operate stably. After replacing it with a tubular centrifuge:

The processing capacity is increased by 2.5 times;

The purity of the supernatant after separation is increased by 32%;

The equipment cleaning time is shortened by 40%.

Case 2: Separation of high-concentration Chinese medicine liquid in the plant extraction industry

A Chinese medicine extraction plant uses hot water immersion and concentrated extraction process, and the extract has high viscosity and many impurities. After using our customized tubular centrifuge:

The separation time is shortened from 40 minutes per batch to 15 minutes;

The product clarity is increased from 70% to more than 95%;

Continuous operation for 8 hours without blockage or jumping.

Case 3: Separation of high-concentration sludge in the environmental protection industry

Under the high-load operation conditions of sewage treatment plants, traditional equipment is difficult to cope with the problems of large changes in sludge viscosity and drastic fluctuations in solid content. After the introduction of the tubular centrifuge:

2 tons of sludge can be processed stably per hour;

The solid content of the effluent is controlled below 0.1%;

The cost is saved by more than 20%.

Equipment selection and use suggestions

For high-viscosity and high-solid materials, enterprises should pay attention to the following points during the selection and operation process:

1. Selection points

Drum diameter and length: The higher the aspect ratio, the better the separation effect;

Material selection: high-strength stainless steel or titanium alloy materials for wear resistance and corrosion resistance;

Feeding system: whether it has a constant pressure pump or frequency conversion control to adapt to flow rate fluctuations;

Slag discharge method: It is recommended to use an electric or pneumatic automatic slag discharge system to improve efficiency.

2. Operation management

It is recommended to heat and reduce the viscosity of the material before feeding;

Control the feed concentration within the allowable range of the equipment;

Clean the inner wall of the equipment regularly to avoid deposition and hardening.

Stable, efficient and safe, tubular centrifuge is the best choice to meet challenges

When facing high-viscosity and high-solid materials, enterprises need not only a separation equipment, but also a stable, reliable and technologically advanced solution. With its excellent separation ability, wide adaptability and excellent continuous operation performance, tubular centrifuge is increasingly becoming a “separation tool” in many industries.

Whether it is pharmaceutical, food, environmental protection, or new materials and new energy fields, tubular centrifuge can rely on its core technology to cope with the challenges of high viscosity and high solids, and escort enterprises to achieve high-quality, low-cost and intelligent production.

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