Centrifuge having a gaseous medium as a control fluid and method of operating
AssigneeWestfalia Separator AG
InventorsWilfried Mackel, Willi Niemerg, Thomas Kleimann
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a centrifuge including a centrifugal drum, a supply pipe, a distributor, a displacement sleeve valve having an opening chamber and a closing chamber, a supply duct, a control gas feed in the distributor and a closing spring biasing the sleeve valve towards a closed condition during a pressure buildup in the opening chamber. The present invention also relates to a method of operating the centrifuge using a control gas to operate the sleeve valve and cleaning of control fluid paths by guiding a flushing fluid or flushing gas through the control fluid paths.
Claims9
A centrifuge comprising:
- a centrifugal drum;
- a supply pipe which leads into the centrifugal drum for introducing a material for the centrifugal process through a distributor into the centrifugal drum;
- a displaceable sleeve valve in the centrifugal drum and having an opening chamber and a closing chamber for opening and closing discharge openings for solids in the centrifugal drum;
- a supply duct concentrically surrounding the supply pipe for the process material;
- a control gas feed in the distributor connecting the supply duct to the opening chamber such that the sleeve valve can be operated by pressure buildup or pressure reduction of a control gas;
- and
- a closing spring biasing the sleeve valve towards a closed condition during the pressure buildup in the opening chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.