Centrifuges with rotating feed pipes

A centrifuge comprising a housing, a rotational mechanism, a basket, a rotating feed pipe, an actuator and a programmable logic controller, wherein:

• the housing encloses the rotational mechanism and comprises at least one side defining an interior volume;
• the basket is positioned in the interior volume of the housing and operatively coupled to the rotational mechanism such that rotation of the rotational mechanism is imparted to the basket;
• the rotating feed pipe extends into the basket through a pipe support positioned over the basket, wherein the rotating feed pipe comprises a nozzle operable to direct a flow of liquids, solids or combinations thereof onto a sidewall of the basket and the rotating feed pipe is operable to rotate from a first position towards a second position thereby increasing the distance between the nozzle and the sidewall and varying an angular orientation of the nozzle with respect to a normal to the sidewall;
• the actuator is mechanically coupled to the rotating feed pipe and operable to rotate the rotating feed pipe in the pipe support;
• and
• the programmable logic controller is operatively coupled to the actuator and configured to trigger the actuator to rotate the rotating feed pipe in the pipe support from the first position towards the second position and thereby control the rotation of the rotating feed pipe in the pipe support and the angular orientation of the nozzle.

A method for forming a cake of solid particulates from a slurry with a centrifuge comprising a basket and a rotating feed pipe extending into the basket, the method comprising:

• rotating the basket of the centrifuge;
• directing a slurry onto a sidewall of the basket via a nozzle of the rotating feed pipe thereby to form a cake of solid particulates on the sidewall;
• and
• rotating the rotating feed pipe from the first position towards the second position as the thickness of the cake of solid particulates increases, thereby increasing the distance between the nozzle and the sidewall and varying an angular orientation of the nozzle with respect to a normal to the sidewall.