What is a Tubular Centrifuge? – Principles, Components, and Industrial Applications

Tubular Centrifuge: High-Speed Precision Separation

A tubular centrifuge is a high-speed centrifugal separator designed to separate fine particles, immiscible liquids, or biological materials based on density differences. Unlike conventional centrifuges, it features a slender, vertically oriented rotating tube capable of generating extreme gravitational forces of up to 16,000× g, making it essential for industries where precision separation is critical.

Key applications include:

• Pharmaceuticals: Purifying vaccines, isolating proteins, and separating cell debris from fermentation broth.
• Biotechnology: Harvesting microbial cells, yeast, and algae.
• Food & Beverage: Clarifying oils, juices, and other liquids.
• Chemical Processing: Recovering catalysts or nanoparticles.

RotaHanza’s tubular centrifuges provide high-efficiency separation, reliable performance, and compliance with GMP standards, making them the preferred choice for biopharmaceutical, biotech, and food processing industries.

Why Choose a Tubular Centrifuge?

1. Unmatched g-forces: Achieves separation of particles as small as 0.1 µm—critical for nanoparticle or cell harvesting.
2. Gentle Processing: Minimal shear forces protect delicate biologics (e.g., mammalian cells).
3. Compact Footprint: Fits into labs or pilot plants where space is limited.

Advantages of TC-12 Tubular Centrifuges

The TC-12 tubular centrifuge offers significant advantages over conventional separation methods, making it the preferred choice for industries requiring high-efficiency, precise, and reliable separation.

• High Efficiency: The TC-12 is engineered to achieve ultra-fine separation, even for micron-sized particles, ensuring maximum recovery of valuable materials. Its advanced design outperforms many conventional centrifuges in precision and consistency.
• High-Speed Operation: With speeds of up to 16,000 rpm, the TC-12 provides rapid and effective separation, reducing processing times while maintaining superior product quality.
• Versatility: Capable of handling liquids with varying viscosities and densities, the TC-12 is suitable for a wide range of applications in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and chemical processing.
• Minimal Product Loss: The optimized design of the TC-12 ensures maximum yield of target materials, minimizing waste and increasing overall process efficiency.
• Compact Design: Despite its high-capacity and high-speed capabilities, the TC-12 features a space-saving, compact design. It provides the performance of larger centrifuges while requiring significantly less floor space, making it ideal for laboratories and production facilities with limited space.

TC-12 tubular centrifuges combine precision, speed, and compactness, offering an unparalleled solution for demanding separation processes where reliability and efficiency are critical.

TC-12 Key Advantages

The TC-12 tubular centrifuge offers unmatched performance and reliability for high-precision separation processes. Key advantages include:

• High g-force: The TC-12 tubular centrifuge delivers powerful centrifugal forces, capable of separating micron-sized particles with exceptional efficiency, with up to 18,000 g. Operating at speeds designed for high-precision liquid-solid separation, the TC-12 ensures reliable performance for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and chemical processing applications. Compact design: Perfectly suited for both continuous and batch processing, saving valuable floor space.
• Material versatility: Handles heat-sensitive, corrosive, and viscous fluids with ease.
• Low maintenance: Simplified design with fewer moving parts compared to disc-stack centrifuges.
• Beltless Operation –: One of the most significant advantages of the TC-12 tubular centrifuge is its beltless design, achieved through a direct connection of the electric motor to the shaft. Unlike conventional centrifuges that rely on belt-driven systems, the TC-12 eliminates potential belt wear and particle release, ensuring a much cleaner and safer operation.

Key Benefits of TC-12 (Bullet Points)

• Direct-drive design: Motor directly connected to shaft (no belts).
• No particle releasing: Prevents contamination in sensitive applications.
• Low noise: Quieter operation compared to belt-driven systems.
• Reduced maintenance: Less downtime and lower servicing costs.
• Reliable performance: Stable operation even at up to 18,000 g.

RotaHanza’s TC-12 combines precision, efficiency, and operational simplicity, making it the ideal choice for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and chemical processing applications where product purity and process reliability are critical.

How Does a Tubular Centrifuge Work?

A tubular centrifuge operates on the principle of sedimentation, where denser components are forced outward under centrifugal force, while lighter components remain closer to the center. RotaHanza’s TC-12 tubular centrifuge, designed for liquid-solid separation, combines precision, efficiency, and reliability for demanding applications.

Key steps in the operation of a TC-12 include:

1. Feeding the Mixture: The liquid containing solid particles is introduced into the rotating cylindrical bowl. The TC-12 is optimized for liquid-solid processing, ensuring smooth handling of various feed compositions and viscosities.
2. Separation by Centrifugal Force: The bowl rotates at speeds of up to 16,000 rpm, generating centrifugal forces that push solids to the periphery while lighter liquid phases stay near the axis. The TC-12’s beltless design ensures no particle release, reduces operational noise, and minimizes maintenance requirements, delivering precise separation with forces of up to 18,000 g.
3. Collection of Separated Phases: In liquid-liquid mixtures, the separated components are discharged through dedicated outlets, while in liquid-solid applications, solids are collected efficiently without compromising throughput or product quality.

The TC-12’s compact design allows installation in laboratories or production facilities with limited space, while maintaining high efficiency and reliability. Its combination of speed, precision, and user-friendly operation makes it ideal for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and chemical processing applications.

The Physics Behind Separation

The centrifugal force (F) is calculated by:

F=m×r×ω2F=m×r×ω2

Where:

• *m* = Mass of particles
• *r* = Tube radius
• ω = Angular velocity (higher RPM = greater separation efficiency).

Critical Parameters

• RPM: Typically up to 16,000 rpm, depending on the application.

• Feed Rate: Optimized to avoid turbulence (e.g., 0.1–500 L/h).
• Temperature Control: The TC-12 comes with a permanent cooling jacket, ensuring consistent temperature regulation for heat-sensitive materials.

Types of Tubular Centrifuges

Tubular centrifuges come in different designs to suit specific applications. The two main types are:

1. Clarifier Type: Used for separating solid impurities from liquids. It is ideal for applications where solids are present in low concentrations.
2. Separator Type: Used for separating two immiscible liquid phases (such as oil and water) while also removing solid impurities.

Both types are designed to maximize separation efficiency for a range of industrial applications.

Types of Tubular Centrifuge differentusages

1. Batch production Tubular Centrifuges

• Use Case: Ideal for small-scale laboratories and low-volume precision separations, including liquid-solid production.
• Example: Applications include monoclonal antibody purification in biopharma, plasma fractionation, and other liquid-solid separations.

Limitation: Requires manual unloading; slower throughput. By using the TC-12 assembly aid robot, manual unloading operations can be performed efficiently, reducing labor effort and improving workflow.

2. Continuous production Tubular Centrifuges

• Use Case: Large-scale oil refining and chemical processing, including liquid-solid production and liquid-liquid solutions.
• Example: Biodiesel purification by removing glycerol.
• Advantage: Automated discharge; handles 5/3000 L/h.

Hybrid Models 

• Semi-Continuous: Combines batch precision with intermittent discharge (e.g., nanoemulsion production).

Applications of Tubular Centrifuges

Tubular centrifuges have extensive applications across various industries:

1. Blood and Plasma Processing

• Fractionation of blood components for medical use
• Separation of plasma for therapeutic applications

2. Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industry

• Separation of antibiotics, enzymes, and vaccines
• Clarification of fermentation broth
• Extraction of proteins and lipids

3. Food and Beverage Industry

• Purification of edible oils and essential oils
• Separation of fruit juices and dairy products
• Removal of impurities from beverages

4. Chemical and Petrochemical Industry

• Separation of chemical compounds
• Removal of solid contaminants from solvents
• Purification of biofuels

5. Environmental and Waste Management

• Treatment of wastewater and industrial effluents
• Separation of oils from wastewater
• Recovery of valuable byproducts from waste streams

Industrial Applications

1. Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology

• Vaccine Production: Case Study: A COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer used a tubular centrifuge to remove cell debris from adenovirus vectors, achieving >99% purity.
• Blood Plasma Isolation: Separates plasma from RBCs in 15 minutes vs. 1 hour with filters.

2. Food & Beverage

• Edible Oil Refining: Removes phospholipids and gums (see table below).
• Dairy Processing: Isolates casein micelles for protein supplements.

3. Chemical & Environmental

• Nanoparticle Synthesis: Recovers gold nanoparticles with 95% yield.
• Wastewater Treatment: Removes PFAS “forever chemicals” via high-g-force separation.

Tubular vs. Other Centrifuges: Pros & Cons

Feature	Tublur Centrifuge	Disc-Stack Centrifuge	Decanter Centrifuge
Max g-force	20,000× g	10,000× g	5,000× g
Throughput	Low to medium	High	Very high
Maintenance	Low (no discs)	High (disc cleaning)	Medium
Best For	Fine particles, labs	High-volume liquids	High-solids slurries

Conclusion: Why TC-12 Tubular Centrifuges Are Essential

Tubular centrifuges, particularly the TC-12 model, are vital for industries requiring high-speed and precise separation. With speeds up to 16,000 rpm and generating forces up to 18,000 g, the TC-12 efficiently separates fine particles, liquid-solid, and liquid-liquid mixtures, making it indispensable in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food & beverage, chemical, and environmental applications.

The TC-12 stands out with its beltless design, ensuring no particle release, reduced operational noise, and minimal maintenance, while its compact design allows seamless integration into both continuous and batch processing lines. These features, combined with advanced automation and easy-to-control systems, maximize productivity and reliability.

For businesses aiming to optimize separation processes, investing in a high-quality TC-12 tubular centrifuge ensures long-term efficiency, reduced downtime, and superior product recovery. Understanding its operation, maintenance, and versatile applications guarantees optimal usage and enhanced performance.