Make light work of animal and vegetable oil separation

Alfa Laval has added two new models to its PX range of vegetable oil separators. The PX 55 and PX 65 were developed for duties such as continuous de-gumming, neutralising, de-waxing and washing of fatty oils - both animal and vegetable.

Oil is fed into the bottom of the separator bowl through a hollow spindle and enters the disc stack. With the bowl spinning at 7,500rpm, centripetal forces direct the heavy phase and any sludge to the bowl periphery while the light phase oil flows into the centre of the bowl to be pumped for further processing.

The heavy phase overflows the top disc and is pumped out of the separator and the sludge is automatically ejected through a series of ports.

In the PX 55 and 65, the flow area for feedstock has been enlarged to minimise inlet pressure drop. Open outlets on the heavy and light phases also reduce pressure drop across the separator as a whole. As a result, very little pressure is required to feed material into the machine.

Stationary paring devices at the outlets remove individual phases and the operator is able to achieve optimal separation on the heavy phase by altering the diameter of the paring tubes on the heavy phase outlet.

Alfa Laval offers machines ranging from 50-1,250t of oil processing capacity a day. The machines are designed for low noise and versions also exist for use in hazardous areas.

Contact: Alfa laval​,Tel: 01276 413632​