ABSTRACT
Industrial processes in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries require high and reliable product qualities over long periods and high mass throughput. Like in salt dehumidification, mechanical dewatering of the product, i.e., the separation of the solid particles from the surrounding liquid phase, is an important unit operation that saves energy and process time in downstream drying apparatus. However, some unwanted effects like the destruction of the separated particles in these machines often impair product quality to a not negligible degree. In this paper a recently started research project is presented that investigates the sources and reasons of particle destruction in solid-liquid separation apparatus, especially in centrifuges.
