Marine Engineering

Liquid-liquid and liquid-solid mixtures can be separated in settling tanks y gravity or in centrifugal separators by centrifugal force, provided that the components of the feed liquid have different densities. Since the centrifugal force developed by centrifugal is many thousand times the force of gravity, separation by centrifuging is accomplished many thousand times faster than by natural settling and takes place in seconds. Clarification Principle: If a liquid-solid mixture is poured into a stationary vessel, the solid particles, bring heavier, will slowly sink to the bottom under the action of gravity.  The larger the settling area and the shallower the vessel, the shorter will be the settling time required to achieve a certain degree of clarification for a specified volume of liquid. The greater the difference between the densities of the liquid and the solids, the more effective will be clarification. In a rotating vessel, the solid particles subjected to centrifugal forc