What Is a Conical Basket Centrifuge?

A conical basket centrifuge is a continuous filtering machine whose basket is shaped as a cone rather than a cylinder. Slurry is fed near the small end; centrifugal force drives the liquid through the screen and simultaneously pushes the solids up the sloping basket wall until they discharge over the wide rim. There is no scraper blade and no reciprocating pusher plate — the slope of the cone and the rotation do all the conveying. Because no metal edge ever cuts into the cake, a conical basket centrifuge is used where the solids must leave the machine intact, and because it runs continuously it suits steady process streams such as juice, wine lees, salt and pulp.

Working Principle

1) Feed. Slurry is introduced near the apex of the cone and distributed around the basket. 2) Filtration. Centrifugal force drives liquid through the screen while solids are retained on its surface. 3) Climbing and washing. The component of centrifugal force along the sloping wall pushes the solids steadily up the cone; wash liquid applied along the way displaces mother liquor. 4) Dewatering. As the cone widens, the layer thins and moisture falls further. 5) Discharge. Solids pass over the wide rim continuously and fall into the collecting chute. 6) Steady state. Feed, filtration, wash and discharge all happen at once, so the machine settles into a steady operating point rather than a cycle.

Key Features

No scraper and no pusher — the only force acting on the solids is the slope of the basket, so there is no mechanical edge to break crystals.

Fully continuous — feeding, filtration, washing and discharge occur simultaneously, so the machine matches a steady process stream.

Simple and robust — fewer moving parts than a pusher or scraper machine, which means less to wear and less to maintain.

Effective washing along the cone — wash liquid can be applied progressively as the cake climbs, giving good displacement of mother liquor.

Compact vertical footprint — no long horizontal shaft and no cycle mechanism.

Smooth handling of fibrous and soft solids — fruit pulp, lees and similar material passes through without the matting and blockage a pusher machine would suffer.

Typical Applications

A PZL conical basket centrifuge is specified where a continuous stream of solids must be separated without mechanical damage and where the material is fibrous, soft or crystalline:

• fruit juice　· wine lees and grape must　· sodium and potassium salt　· virgin and recycled pulp　· citric acid　· starch and gluten　· brewery and distillery residues　· vegetable protein

Selection Guide

All three machines are continuous, but they damage the product differently. That difference is the decision:

Choose the PZL conical basket centrifuge when solids must leave the machine undamaged, when the material is fibrous or soft, or when you want the simplest possible continuous machine. Choose a pusher machine when you need the lowest moisture on coarse free-draining crystals, and a screen scroll when your crystals carry a fines fraction.

Technical Specifications

Customization & Options

Screen in stainless steel, Hastelloy or wedge-wire; basket and casing in 304 or 316L with optional Halar lining; food-grade surface finishes matching hygiene standards; progressive wash headers with separate liquor collection; closed casing for vapor or dust control; variable-frequency drive; CIP connections for food and beverage duty.

FAQ

By the geometry of the cone. Centrifugal force acts radially, and on a sloping surface part of that force pushes the solids along the slope toward the wide end. The steeper the cone and the faster the rotation, the faster the solids travel. It is the same effect that makes material climb the inside of a spinning bowl, applied in a controlled way.

It works on fine solids as long as they are filterable and dense enough to be retained on the screen. For slimy, near-neutral-density or colloidal solids a filtration machine is the wrong choice altogether — a sedimentation machine such as a PSC or decanter is better. Send a sample and we will tell you which case applies to you.

Because the material is fibrous and soft, and because a continuous stream has to be handled without the matting that a pusher or scraper mechanism suffers on fibrous solids. The conical basket conveys such material smoothly up and over the rim, and the continuous operation suits a juice line where feed never stops.

Yes. Wash headers are fitted at one or more points along the cone, so wash liquid can be applied progressively as the cake climbs. That gives good displacement of mother liquor, and the wash-section filtrate can be collected separately.

It is simpler, because there is no reciprocating pusher mechanism, no hydraulic or crank drive for the plate and no pusher plate to wear or adjust. The main consumables are the screen and, on abrasive duty, the discharge area, both of which are planned replacement items.

Why Jiangsu Shengli Centrifuge

Behind this machine is Jiangsu Shengli Centrifuge Manufacturing Co., Ltd.: a 158,905 m2 manufacturing plant, ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certification, CE marking, more than 30 patents and installations in over 30 countries. Rotor balancing, wear-facing and final testing are done in house, so the machine that arrives on site is the machine that was measured on the balancing machine, and the report to prove it travels with it.

Request a Quote or a Free Separation Test

Talk to our engineers with your material data in hand. Send a sample, tell us the throughput you need and the specification you have to meet, and we will come back with a measured result, a recommended model and the operating settings that produced it - not simply the largest machine in the range.