PURIFIER OPERATIONCentrifugal force is the fundamental operatingprinciple used in the purification of fluid. Centrifugalforce is that force exerted on a body or substance byrotation. Centrifugal force impels the body or substanceout ward from the axis of rotation.Essentially, a centrifugal purifier is a containerrotated at high speed. As it rotates, contaminated lubeoil is forced through, and rotates with, the container.Only materials that are in the lube oil are separated bycentrifugal force. For example, water is separated fromlube oil because water and lube oil are immiscible,which means they are incapable of being mixed. Also,there must be a difference in the specific gravities of thematerials before they can be separated by centrifugalforce. You cannot use a centrifugal purifier to separateJP-5 or naval distillate from lube oil because it is capableof being mixed; likewise, you cannot remove salt fromseawater by centrifugal force.When a mixture of lube oil, water, and sedimentstands undisturbed, gravity tends to form an upper layerof lube oil, an intermediate layer of water, and a lowerlayer of sediment. The layers form because of thespecific gravities of the materials in the mixture. If thelube oil, water, and sediment are placed in a containerthat is revolving rapidly around a vertical axis, the effectof gravity is negligible in comparison with that of thecentrifugal force. Since centrifugal force acts at rightangles to the axis of rotation of the container, thesediment with its greater specific gravity assumes theoutermost position, forming a layer on the inner surfaceof the container. Water, being heavier than lube oil,forms an intermediate layer between the layer ofsediment and the lube oil, which forms the innermostlayer. The separated water is discharged as waste, andFigure 10-33.—Disc-type centrifugal purifier.10-36
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