Alfa Laval Clara 20 Disc Centrifuge | Food Grade Stainless Steel Clarifier

Overview

The Alfa Laval Clara 20 is a compact, skid-mounted centrifugal separator designed for clarification and purification applications in various industries, including food, beverages, and industrial fermentation. Here are the key points about its design and functionality:

• It is a self-cleaning disc stack centrifuge with a stainless steel bowl that rotates at high speeds around a vertical axis.
• The centrifuge features a unique disc inlet design that enables gentle acceleration of the feed, minimizing foaming and preserving shear-sensitive particles.
• It can operate in two modes: as a clarifier, separating suspended solids from liquids, or as a purifier, separating solids as well as immiscible liquid phases.
• The centrifuge incorporates the LAPX-404 model, which has a partial solids ejection feature that allows purging only the solids, reducing fluid losses during sludge ejection.
• Sludge ejection can be triggered by a timer or based on the volume of processed fluid.
• It can handle process fluids with up to 10% solids content by volume, with varying solid loads.
• The Clara 20 has a maximum capacity of 4,000 liters per hour and is the smallest model in the Clara series, making it ideal for testing and smaller-scale applications.
• It is designed as a complete, plug-and-play system mounted on a movable skid with wheels, including all necessary components like piping, valves, and automation solutions for efficient operation.

The Clara 20's compact size, gentle handling of shear-sensitive products, and ability to separate solids, liquids, or both make it a versatile solution for various clarification and purification needs across multiple industries.

Specifications

Model Type	Alfa Laval LAPX-404
Rated Capacity	15 GPM on Beverages and Fermentation Broth
Sludge Space	0.25 Gallons
Bowl RPM	9,100
G-Force	11,500 Gs
Motor HP:	5 HP
Voltages:	230 / 460 V

Applications

The LAPX-404 is applicable for the removal of suspended solids with particle size of 0.5 t0 500 µm. The liquid centrate has a lower density than the solids.

The solids content is usually in the range of 0,1 to 10% by volume. The total solids content can be from 0.1% to 10% by volume.

The following are some of the popular applications the Alfa Laval LAPX-404:

• Food
  • Beverage Clarification
  • Wine Clarification
  • Food Flavoring
• Pharmaceutical
  • Fermentation Broth
  • Protein Extraction
  • Algae Harvesting

The maximum process capacity of the machine is 15 Gallon/Minute.

Operation

The bio-culture fluid enters the rotating bowl of the LAPX-404 centrifuge. The bowl exerts a high g-force (11,000 Gs) on the process fluid.

The centrifugal force causes rapid sedimentation of the cells. These separated cells are auto-ejected from the centrifuge.

The liquid phase (broth) moves towards the centers and exists the bowl through a separate outlet.

A detailed explanation of the operation of the LAPX-404 centrifuge follows.

The process fluid enters the rotating bowl of the centrifuge through a stationary inlet pipe (1). The distributor (2) accelerates the fluid before it enters the disc-stack (3).

The separation of the solids from the liquid happens in the inter-disc space.

The clear liquid moves towards the center of the bowl. A paring disc (4) pumps out the clear centrate.

The denser solids move towards the bowl periphery. From there, their ejection happens through the centrifuge cyclone.

A hydraulic mechanism located under the bowl separation space causes the sludge ejection. This mechanism forces the sliding piston (5) downward, opening the solids ejection ports (6) at the bowl periphery.

The cyclone reduces the high ejection velocity of the solids.

Dolphin Centrifuge has an Alfa Laval LAPX-404 centrifuge system in stock for sale.