CENTRIFUGE WITH COATED WEIR PLATES

Abstract

A decanter centrifuge, for separating a sludge into components, with a rotor and a scroll arranged inside the rotor. The rotor is configured at least partially as a solid bowl rotor with at least a cylindrical section and a conical section. The rotor includes a first end face, concluding the cylindrical section of the rotor, with a first diameter, and a second end face, concluding the conical section, with a second smaller diameter. A flange with one or multiple openings is arranged on the first end face, wherein one or multiple weir plates are fastened to the flange which at least partially cover the openings and are arranged to set a liquid level inside the rotor and form a first radial outlet edge for letting out a liquid at the first end face. The weir plates include an elastically deformable coating on their side facing the flange.

Claims

1.-14. (canceled)

15. A centrifuge, in particular a decanter centrifuge, for separating a sludge into multiple components, with a rotor and a scroll arranged inside the rotor, wherein the rotor is configured at least partially as a solid bowl rotor with at least a cylindrical section and a conical section, wherein the rotor comprises a first end face, concluding the cylindrical section of the rotor, with a first diameter, and a second end face, concluding the conical section, with a second smaller diameter, wherein a flange with one or multiple openings is arranged at the first end face, wherein one or multiple weir plates are fastened to the flange, which at least partially cover the openings and are arranged to set a liquid level inside the rotor and form a first radial outlet edge for letting out a liquid at the first end face, wherein the weir plates at least partially comprise an elastically deformable coating on their side facing to the flange.

16. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the weir plates comprise the elastically deformable coating, at least in one contact region with the flange.

17. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the coating at least partially consists of a plastic material.

18. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the coating consists of an elastomer, in particular of synthetic rubber, in particular of nitrile rubber and/or of ethylene-propylene-diene rubber.

19. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the coating is antibacterial and/or antimicrobial.

20. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the flange is formed integrally with the rotor.

21. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the weir plates are fixable to the flange in multiple different positions.

22. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the weir plates are adjustable in a continuous or stepwise manner and are fixable to the flange.

23. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the rotor and/or weir plates consist of a metal, in particular of a metal alloy.

24. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the coating is form-fittingly and/or force-fittingly and/or integrally connected with the weir plates.

25. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the coating is produced by means of a plastic material encapsulation of the respective weir plates.

26. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the weir plates respectively comprise at least one negative profile, which interacts with a corresponding positive profile of the coating, in particular in that a press-fit exists between the profiles.

27. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the weir plates respectively comprise at least one positive profile, which interacts with a corresponding negative profile of the coating, in particular in that a press-fit exists between the profiles.

28. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the weir plates are respectively fastened to the flange by means of fastening elements, which engage through at least one through-hole of the weir plate, wherein the coating comprises a perforation in a region surrounding the through-hole, so that a direct contact between the weir plates and the flange exists in this region surrounding the through-hole.

Description

[0037] An exemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the figures. They show:

[0038] FIG. 1 a partial view of a cross section through a centrifuge according to the invention, with weir plates, in a first radial position;

[0039] FIG. 2 a partial view of a cross section through a centrifuge according to the invention, with weir plates, in a second radial position;

[0040] FIG. 3 a perspective view of a weir plate on a flange;

[0041] FIG. 4 a perspective view of the weir plate according to FIG. 3.

[0042] Identical components and assemblies are referred to in the figures with the same reference characters.

[0043] FIG. 1 shows a partial view of a cross section through a centrifuge according to the invention. Here, a rotor with a cylindrical section 2 and a conical section 3 is discernable, wherein the rotor is rotatably mounted in a housing 10. Inside the rotor, a scroll 4 with a plurality of scroll threads 40 is also rotatably mounted. Here, the rotor comprises a first end face 6 which is located left at the drawing plane. Right at the drawing plane, the rotor further comprises a second end face 5, which comprises a smaller diameter relative to the first end face 6. The rotational axis of the rotor not discernable in FIG. 1 is oriented horizontally.

[0044] A flange 8 is arranged on the end face 6 of the rotor and is fastened by means of multiple screws 80. The flange 8 comprises multiple openings 83 uniformly distributed over its circumference. Multiple weir plates 7 are further fastened, by means of screws 71, to the flange 8, distributed over its circumference, which plates partially cover the openings 83. Due to the fact that the weir plates 7 partially cover the openings 83 of the flange 8, the weir plates 7 define a first radial outlet edge 85 for letting out a liquid at the first end face 6.

[0045] A level of liquid 9 thereby occurs inside the rotor during the treatment of a sludge by means of the centrifuge. The treatment occurs in that the rotor and the scroll 4 are rotated with a differential speed. Further recognizable is a clarified part 90 of the rotor, in which the liquid accumulates, and the solid matter part 91 of the rotor, in which the separated solid matter is located inside rotor and is continuously transported away via the second end face 5 by means of the scroll threads 40. The clarified part 90 can further be referred to as sump, and the solid matter part 91 as dry beach. Accordingly, the liquid is led away out of the rotor via the outlet edge 85 defined at the image plane at the left end face 6 by the correspondingly positioned weir plates 7.

[0046] The weir plates 7 are adjustable, with respect to their radial height, with respect to the radial course of the flange 8 and fixable to the flange 8 by means of the screws 71. To that end, the flange 8 comprises multiple threaded bores corresponding to the screws 71, which bores are arranged distributed in its radial course. Via the adjustment of the weir plates 7, the radial position of the outlet edge 85 and thus the liquid level 9 inside the rotor can be set. Further, the weir plates 7, on their side facing to the flanges 8, comprise an elastically deformable coating from an elastomer, which is not discernable in FIG. 1. The coating prevents a gap formation between the flange 8 and the weir plates 7, so that no bacteria can nest therein. Such a centrifuge can thereby also find use in hygienic applications, in particular in the foodstuffs industry.

[0047] FIG. 2 shows an arrangement according to FIG. 1, wherein it is discernable that the weir plates 8 were adjusted to a radially higher level, so that the level of liquid 9 is higher than in the illustration according to FIG. 1. In this way, the clarified part 90 is larger relative to the illustration from FIG. 1, whereas the dry part 91 is smaller.

[0048] Through the possibility of the radially variable positioning of the weir plates 7 on the flange 8, the centrifuge can be adapted to the operational requirements, as the ratio of clarified part 90 and dry part 91 is hereby likewise variably adaptable.

[0049] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a weir plate 7 which is arranged on the flange 8. The weir plate 7 here partially covers the opening 83 of the flange 8. The weir plate 7 is here fastened to the flange by means of four screws 71. To that end, the screws 71 are screwed in threaded bores 82 of the flange 8. Further, a coating 70 of the weir plate 7 is discernable, which coating was squeezed between the weir plate 7 and the flange 8 after the fastening of the weir plate 7 by means of the screws 71. In this way, the coating 70 squeezed between the weir plate 7 and the flange 8 prevents gaps from forming between these elements, in which gaps breeding grounds for bacteria can come about.

[0050] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the weir plate 7 according to FIG. 3, wherein the side of the weir plate 7 facing the flange is illustrated. It is recognizable that the coating 70 comprises perforations 73 around the region of the through-holes 72 of the weir plate 7. These perforations 73 serve to achieve a load-bearing connection between the weir plate 7 and the flange 8 in that the regions around the through-holes 72 are free of a coating 70. In this way, the weir plate 7 and the flange 8 lie directly on top of one another in the regions around the through-holes 72, so that a load-bearing connection between the two components is made possible.