Centrifuge 1

Centrifuge
A centrifuge is a piece of equipment, generally driven by an electric motor
(some older models were spun by hand), that puts an object in rotation around
a fixed axis, applying a force perpendicular to the axis. The centrifuge works
using the sedimentation principle, where the centripetal acceleration causes
more dense substances to separate out along the radial direction (the bottom
of the tube). By the same token, lighter objects will tend to move to the top
(of the tube; in the rotating picture, move to the centre).

In the picture shown, the rotating unit, called the rotor, has fixed holes drilled
at an angle (to the vertical). Test tubes are placed in these slots and the rotor
is spun. As the centrifugal force is in the horizontal plane and the tubes are
fixed at an angle, the particles have to travel only a little distance before they
hit the wall and drop down to the bottom. These angle rotors are very popular
in the lab for routine use. A laboratory tabletop centrifuge.

Theory
Protocols for centrifugation typically specify the amount of acceleration to be applied to the sample, rather than
specifying a rotational speed such as revolutions per minute. The acceleration is often quoted in multiples of g, the
standard acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface. This distinction is important because two rotors with
different diameters running at the same rotational speed will subject samples to different accelerations.
Since the motion is circular the acceleration can be calculated as the product of the radius and the square of the
angular velocity. Traditionally named "relative centrifugal force" (RCF), it is the measurement of the acceleration
applied to a sample within a centrifuge and it is measured in units of gravity (times gravity or × "g"). It is given by

where
is earth's gravitational acceleration,
is the rotational radius,
is the rotational speed, measured in revolutions per unit of time.
When the rotational speed is given in revolutions per minute (RPM) and the rotational radius is expressed in
centimetres (cm) the above relationship becomes

where
is the rotational radius measured in centimetres (cm),
is rotational speed measured in revolutions per minute (RPM).
Centrifuge 2

History and predecessors

English military engineer Benjamin Robins (1707–1751) invented
a whirling arm apparatus to determine drag. In 1864, Antonin
Prandtl invented the first dairy centrifuge in order to separate
cream from milk. In 1879, Gustaf de Laval demonstrated the first
continuous centrifugal separator, making its commercial
application feasible.

Types
There are at least five types of centrifuge:
• preparative centrifuge
• analytical centrifuge
• angle fixed centrifuge
• swing head centrifuge
• haematocrit centrifuge
A 19th-century hand cranked laboratory centrifuge.
Industrial centrifuges may otherwise be classified according to the
type of separation of the high density fraction from the low density
one :
• Screen centrifuges, where the centrifugal acceleration allows the liquid to pass through a screen of some sort,
through which the solids cannot go (due to granulometry larger than the screen gap or due to agglomeration).
Common types are :
• Pusher centrifuges
• Peeler centrifuges
• Decanter centrifuges, in which there is no physical separation between the solid and liquid phase, rather an
accelerated settling due to centrifugal acceleration. Common types are :
• Solid bowl centrifuges
• Conical plate centrifuges

Uses

Isolating suspensions
Simple centrifuges are used in chemistry, biology, and biochemistry for isolating and separating suspensions. They
vary widely in speed and capacity. They usually comprise a rotor containing two, four, six, or many more numbered
wells within which the samples containing centrifuge tips may be placed.

Isotope separation
Other centrifuges, the first being the Zippe-type centrifuge, separate isotopes, and these kinds of centrifuges are in
use in nuclear power and nuclear weapon programs.
Gas centrifuges are used in uranium enrichment. The heavier isotope of uranium (uranium-238) in the uranium
hexafluoride gas tend to concentrate at the walls of the centrifuge as it spins, while the desired uranium-235 isotope
is extracted and concentrated with a scoop selectively placed inside the centrifuge. It takes many thousands of
centrifuges to enrich uranium enough for use in a nuclear reactor (around 3.5% enrichment), and many thousands
more to enrich it to weapons-grade (around 90% enrichment) for use in nuclear weapons.
Centrifuge 3

Aeronautics and astronautics

Human centrifuges are exceptionally large centrifuges that test
the reactions and tolerance of pilots and astronauts to acceleration
above those experienced in the Earth's gravity.
The US Air Force at Holloman Air Force Base, NM operates a
The 20 G centrifuge at the NASA Ames Research
human centrifuge. The centrifuge at Holloman AFB is operated by Center
the aerospace physiology department for the purpose of training
and evaluating prospective fighter pilots for high-g flight in Air Force fighter aircraft.
The use of large centrifuges to simulate a feeling of gravity has been proposed for future long-duration space
missions. Exposure to this simulated gravity would prevent or reduce the bone decalcification and muscle atrophy
that affect individuals exposed to long periods of freefall. An example of this can be seen in the film 2001: A Space
Odyssey.

Earthquake and blast simulation

The geotechnical centrifuge is used for simulating blasts and earthquake phenomena.[1] For a discussion of their
design, see Geotechnical Centrifuges by Philip Turner [2].

Commercial applications
• Standalone centrifuges for drying (hand-washed) clothes – usually with a water outlet.
• Centrifuges are used in the attraction Mission: SPACE, located at Epcot in Walt Disney World, which propels
riders using a combination of a centrifuge and a motion simulator to simulate the feeling of going into space.
• In soil mechanics, centrifuges utilize centrifugal acceleration to match soil stresses in a scale model to those found
in reality.
• Large industrial centrifuges are commonly used in water and wastewater treatment to dry sludges. The resulting
dry product is often termed cake, and the water leaving a centrifuge after most of the solids have been removed is
called centrate.
• Large industrial centrifuges are also used in the oil industry to remove solids from the drilling fluid.
• Disc-stack centrifuges used by some companies in Oil Sands industry to separate small amounts of water and
solids from bitumen
• Centrifuges are used to separate cream (remove fat) from milk.

Further reading
Naesgaard et al., Modeling flow liquefaction, its mitigation, and comparison with centrifuge tests [3]

See also
• Lamm equation
• Sedimentation
• Centrifugal force
• Centrifugation
• Gas centrifuge
• Sedimentation coefficient
• Clearing factor
• Hydroextractor
Centrifuge 4

External links
• RCF Calculator and Nomograph [4]
• RPI centrifuge video [5]
• Centrifugation Rotor Calculator [6]
• Selection of historical centrifuges [7] in the Virtual Laboratory of the Max Planck Institute for the History of
Science

References
[1] C. W. W. Ng, Y. H. Wang, L. M. Zhang (2006). Physical Modelling in Geotechnics: proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on
Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=mzQlFBqJC1wC& pg=RA1-PA186& dq=centrifuge+ earthquake&
lr=& as_brr=0& sig=ACfU3U1SZImDanYOwrq15Jre19qtAqpyJw#PRA1-PA135,M1). Taylor & Francis. p. 135. ISBN 0415415861. .
[2] http:/ / www-g. eng. cam. ac. uk/ 125/ achievements/ centrifuges/ index. htm
[3] http:/ / www. civil. ubc. ca/ liquefaction/ Publications/ flow%20liq_Naesgaard%20et%20al%20version31. pdf
[4] http:/ / www. djblabcare. co. uk/ djb/ info/ 6/ user_tools
[5] http:/ / www. nees. rpi. edu/ nees/ video/
[6] http:/ / www. changbioscience. com/ cell/ rcf. html
[7] http:/ / vlp. mpiwg-berlin. mpg. de/ technology/ search?-max=10& -title=1& -op_varioid=numerical& varioid=3
Article Sources and Contributors 5

Article Sources and Contributors

Centrifuge  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=358631080  Contributors: 16@r, Aeconley, Alansohn, Aranel, Ashan vpss, AstareGod, Bensaccount, Bjwebb, Bobblewik,
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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Tabletop centrifuge.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tabletop_centrifuge.jpg  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: User:Magnus Manske
File:19thCentrifuge.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:19thCentrifuge.JPG  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: User:Kierano
File:20G centrifuge.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:20G_centrifuge.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: NASA Original uploader was Dancraggs at
en.wikipedia

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