A conical bowl centrifuge is shaped just as it sounds. The interior of the bowl is a cone. These were the original centrifuges used in the oilfield and some are still used today.

An advancement in centrifuge bowl design was the contour or cylindrical design. In this design, the large diameter of the bowl is kept cylindrical for a portion of the total length, then transitions to the normal angle of cone taper for the remainder of the bowl.

When comparing conical and contour bowls of the same length, several things happen. If the pool is adjusted so that the beach is the same on machines, the pool volume and therefore retention time is greater on a contour bowl. The result is that a contour bowl can handle a much higher feed rate while still making the same median outpoint, as compared to a conical bowl centrifuge of the same size.

Decanter Centrifuge Applications in Solids Control System

For drilling fulids processing there are two uses of centrifuges. One is to remove solids from the mud while returning the liquid phase to the active system, such as when used with an unweighted drilling fluid. The other is when solids are returned to the active system and the liquid phase is discarded.

For unweighted drilling fluids, a centrifuge is often used on the active mud system ot remove as many drilled solids as possible, which helps to control the weight or density of the mud. The effluent containing colloidal solids, such as bentonite and chemical additives, is returned to the active mud system. If it is an expensive drilling fluids, often the hydrocycone unders can be processed with a centrifuge to recover as much of the associated liquid phase as possible while discharging the solids.