Sedimenting centrifuges are machines used in industry to separate solid particles from a continuous liquid phase. The driving force behind the separation is the centrifugal force, which leads to separation due to a density difference between both phases. Their flexibility and the development of various machine types, such as decanter centrifuges, tubular bowl centrifuges and disk stack separators, has led to a wide range of applications in the process industry. Typical areas of application are the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, minerals processing, the beverage and food industries and wastewater treatment.

This presentation reviews the development of process models for different sedimenting centrifuge types, such as decanter centrifuges, disk stack separators, and tubular bowl centrifuges, and discusses their application in process design for a range of industrial applications. In this context, laboratory-scale material characterization and the integration of historical process data play a crucial role. Various laboratory devices such as analytical centrifuges and beaker centrifuges are used to determine material functions for sedimentation behavior, sediment formation, and sediment transport.

The integration of material functions into the process prediction has the advantage that complex material behavior is directly included in the calculation, thus enabling a quick prediction without time-consuming and costly pilot testing. Additionally, in a further step, the integration of a few pilot tests can minimize uncertainties in the process model and therefore improve also the scale-up of sedimenting centrifuges.

Finally, the applicability of process models developed in recent years is illustrated using representative examples, and current limitations and potential future developments for improving predictive accuracy, including machine learning methods, are discussed.