Filtration Facts

Centrifugal Separators Go From The Big Screen To The Gulf of Mexico

The idea of using centrifugal force to separate two elements of different densities has been around for many years. Despite the scientific explanation for centrifugal force and its real world applications in our lives, to some people it often sounds too good to be true. It is hard for some to believe that gravity and centrifugal action can be exploited in such ingenious devices that can work so efficiently and effectively. Such has been the case with the most recent application to appear in the headlines recently -- a centrifugal separator which might be able to help clean up the Deepwater Horizon gulf oil spill.

Not Just Movie Special Effects

A company co-owned by actor Kevin Costner has developed a centrifugal separator designed to remove crude oil from sea water, and centrifugal action is at the heart of the machine. The technology for the portable liquid separators was originally developed by national laboratories for defense purposes, but Costner and his business partners purchased the patent in 1990. Costner began working on ways to remove oil from water while working on his 1995 science fiction movie "Waterworld". British Petroleum has placed an order for some of the devices, in the hopes it can succeed where other techniques and products have failed.

Two Other Uses Of Centrifugal Separation

In addition to Costner's Waterworld-inspired oil-from-water separator, centrifugal separators are used to solve a number of less-theatrical problems as well, including: 

1. Medical uses - centrifuges are devices used in laboratories to separate liquids from other liquids (such as blood) for testing.
2. Solids-from-liquids centrifugal separators, used to remove sand, dirt, and other solids from water (as well as other liquids like cooking oil). LAKOS Separators are the leaders in this field, and are used in a variety of residential, water well, industrial, and heating/cooling applications.

LAKOS Centrifugal Separators

LAKOS centrifugal separators utilize the same fundamental forces of centrifugal action as Kevin Costner's device and medical centrifuges. Nearly forty years since gaining its first patent, LAKOS has been continuously innovating and improving upon this technology and the unique solutions it can provide.  Liquid enters the LAKOS Separator at an angle, and internal slots accelerate the flow so that solids heavier than water are moved (through centrifugal force) to the outer wall of a separation chamber and drop to the bottom of the separator, while clean fluid exits the separator. This can be better explained by watching an animation or video of the solids being separated from the liquid.

Free Download - Independent Testing Proves Efficiency

Just how efficient is a LAKOS Centrifugal Separator at removing solids from liquids? Up to 98% percent efficient, according to independent 3rd party testing. Get the free results of this testing today !

World Cup Soccer And Filtration Both Benefit From Teamwork

Soccer stars Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, and Diego Maradona each gave brilliant individual performances in helping their World Cup soccer teams to win previous FIFA Cup championships. But they have been the exception rather than the rule. Soccer is a team sport, and the champion team is usually the one which plays most effectively as a unit. The same goes for NBA greats Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and  many others. While individuals might shine in a role, it is the ability to work together that makes a championship team "greater than the sum of its parts".

The same is often true when looking at industrial and process cooling systems. One component may appear to be the key, but it is the way in which other components maximize the effectiveness of each other that leads to a high performing system. A chiller, heat exchanger, or cooling tower may be the "pivotal player," but a properly-sized filtration system will keep all three operating longer, at higher efficiency and effectiveness, and with less maintenance. A championship combination. 

Multiple Separators On The Same Team
There are situations when multiple filtration systems installed in series are greater than the sum of their parts. And situations when the volume and concentration of solids in a liquid are so great that two Separators -- acting as a team -- are needed instead of one. In this type of installation (sometimes called a "Super Separator"), a high concentration of solids is best handled by having the first Separator remove the first cut of solids (typically the larger solids, which displace the smaller particles in the separation barrel), followed by the second Separator, which will then remove the typically smaller solids that carry-over into the second unit. This is all accomplished in a SINGLE pass.

Benefits of this ONE-TWO punch of filtration includes:

• Greater solids-removal capability for higher solids concentrations
• Improved fine particle removal (after the first-stage Separator reduces the overall solids load)
• Increased overall solids-removal of both large & unusual solids and finer solids
• As a result, a two-or-three staged "Super Separator" system is often the most effective solution when there is (a) a large amount of solids to be removed and (b) there is great variation in size and weight between the solids. 

Typical situations for this type of filtration configuration might include steel mills, mining applications, and other industrial processes.

Case Study: Separators Installed In Series
A typical example illustrating this situation might be a steel forging mill in Chile, using two Centrifugal Separators in series to remove huge amounts of sand from the process water used in their cooling towers. Want to read more? Download this Case Study and get the details!

Particle SIZE Matters More Than NUMBER In Filtration

It is easy to get overwhelmed with "parts-per-million" measurements that indicate how MANY solids and other particles are contained within a sample of liquid. But when it comes to filtration of non-drinkable water, it is the size of the LARGER particles and not the sheer number of all particles that should be your biggest concern. In other words, SIZE matters more than QUANTITY, or VOLUME.

Consider the water in a cooling tower basin for a large building or factory. Without filtration, a certain amount of dirt and grit will accumulate in these cooling tower basins over time, reducing their effectiveness and leading to all sorts of problems, including Legionaire's Disease. There is no need to remove particles to make this water "drinking-water" clear (no particles larger than 5 microns in size).

To put the size of particles into perspective, look at the chart showing diameter sizes of

• a human hair
• the smallest thing the human eye can visibly see
• a white blood cell
• a red blood cell
• bacteria

  
This chart raises the questions "How clean is CLEAN ENOUGH" for a certain application, and "How much money and energy should be spent to reach that level?"

Separators can remove larger particles more efficiently and using less energy and wasting less water than any form of barrier filter, such as bag filters or cartridges. This is because barrier filters become less efficient as they become clogged with debris, while a separator continues to operate at the same efficiency. Separators can remove larger particles and can do so without ever needing bag replacement or other maintenance.

Want to learn more?

Download the complete  Particle Size Fact Sheet LS-775 and our Whitepaper on Preventing Heat Exchanger Fouling through Proper Filtration.