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Biodiesel => Biodiesel equipment => Topic started by: julianf on August 16, 2013, 11:44:06 PM

Title: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: julianf on August 16, 2013, 11:44:06 PM
I know that Nathan is on holiday at the moment -

I need to mount one of his fuges, and am not 100% sure of the best way :

Is the best way of mounting them to cut a hole in a drum, and bolt them into place, or make up some sort of bracket?

I dont have a clip for the clip tops i have, and im concerned that if i bolt it to a lid, it (the lid) could come off, and another gulf of mexico incident may follow!

I also fear the resonance making a racket, but i dont know if that is justified?


Would i do better to turn a standard, sealed, 205ltr upside down, and cut a hole for the fuge in its base?  I could then put in the 4 mounting bolts through the larger, central, hole, with some split washers, somehow hold them in place, and then bolt the fuge on.

I could then put a fitting in the 3/4" port (which would then be on the bottom) and suck from that to the gear pump.


Would that be a suitable way of hooking up the system, or would i do better doing things another way?

Thank you.
Title: Re: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: photoman290 on August 17, 2013, 11:36:50 AM
somewhere out there is a very good video of someone describing how they did it.  as i am not too far away from having the same problem i will see if i can find it again. should have bookmarked it. they bolted the fuge to the top of a cliptop lid and put the motor on the lid as well. seemed to work quite well.
Title: Re: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: julianf on August 17, 2013, 12:14:47 PM
Yep - that seems the simplest option, but where the clips to my clip-tops are, who knows!
Title: Re: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: photoman290 on August 17, 2013, 03:37:27 PM
not the one i was thinking of but more or less the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35kcl6_1ZbQ
Title: Re: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: whatarascal on August 17, 2013, 04:55:25 PM
If you mount it on the drum it will DRUM.
Nathan usually sells his fuges with a mounting bracket that mounts to the top and inside of the open drum.
Thats what I used and its really noisy so perhaps think about mounting it away from the drum
Title: Re: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: Tony on August 17, 2013, 09:56:31 PM
Sounds like the perfect candidate for being bolted to a nice solid wall.

Or weld up a box section stand for it?
Title: Re: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: julianf on August 17, 2013, 10:06:57 PM
Or weld up a box section stand for it?

Unless the stand was so large that it would get in the way, id fear it moving away from the barrel!

I suspect the best way may be to mount it on a clip top lid, but add some mass to the lid also?
Title: Re: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: Tony on August 17, 2013, 10:11:29 PM
Unless the stand was so large that it would get in the way, id fear it moving away from the barrel!

Bolt it to the floor?  That also reduces its footprint requirement (no need to free-stand).
Title: Re: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: photoman290 on August 17, 2013, 11:05:01 PM
Unless the stand was so large that it would get in the way, id fear it moving away from the barrel!

Bolt it to the floor?  That also reduces its footprint requirement (no need to free-stand).

given the speed they process oil at 3cc/rev x 3000 rpm in my case 540 litres an hour i make that, divide by 2 for  2 passes, thats 220 litres an hour. you would have to be making a lot of bio for it to be a problem. the neighbours might think otherwise of course. a problem i don't have.
Title: Re: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: whatarascal on August 18, 2013, 11:59:49 AM
When I first started mine up I was startled by the noise.
I am in the fortunate position that all my neighbors go to work and I can make as much noise as I wish.
I suppose if you had a way of balancing them perfectly they wouldn't make so much noise.
Very noisy better to have it bolted to something solid
Title: Re: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: photoman290 on August 18, 2013, 05:01:32 PM
When I first started mine up I was startled by the noise.
I am in the fortunate position that all my neighbors go to work and I can make as much noise as I wish.
I suppose if you had a way of balancing them perfectly they wouldn't make so much noise.
Very noisy better to have it bolted to something solid

i suppose in their usual role as oil filters on engines the noise is not a problem.
Title: Re: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: whatarascal on August 18, 2013, 05:38:05 PM
When I first started mine up I was startled by the noise.
I am in the fortunate position that all my neighbors go to work and I can make as much noise as I wish.
I suppose if you had a way of balancing them perfectly they wouldn't make so much noise.
Very noisy better to have it bolted to something solid

i suppose in their usual role as oil filters on engines the noise is not a problem.

Dunno about that,all I know is if my drum rolled down the road wiv centrifuge blazing I would probably get lynched
Title: Re: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: nathanrobo on August 19, 2013, 11:31:11 PM
Hi mate

back from hols now...

I've sent a message with instructions, but a few key points are:

clip top lid doesn't need to be clamped - in fact it's better if you can leave the lid ajar a bit to allow water vapours to escape.

Resonance should be lower on this unit than the older style ones as they're dynamically balanced.

If you want to wall mount I do a bracket with a 1" female thread to take a hose tail - positioning will be defined / limited by the 1.5 mtr long hydraulic hose assembly - but if you mount the pump half way up the tank / drum, then there should be enough length on the hose assembly to mount well above the tank.
Title: Re: Mounting a centrifuge?
Post by: Jamesrl on August 20, 2013, 10:04:10 PM
Mounting a centrifuge?

I didn't even know you could ride one.