Flow induced vibrations in gas tube assembly of centrifuge

A centrifuge essentially consists of a rotor rotating at very high speed. Gas tube assembly, located at the center of the rotor, is used to introduce feed gas into the rotor and remove product and waste streams from it. The gas tube assembly is thus a static component, the product and waste scoops of which are lying in the high pressure region of a fluid rotating at very high speed. This can cause flow induced vibrations in the gas tube assembly. Such vibrations affect not only the mechanical stability of the gas tube assembly but may also reduce the separative power of the centrifuge. In a cascade, if some of the centrifuges have gas tube vibration, then cascade performance will be affected. A theoretical analysis of the effect of waste tube vibrations on product and waste flow rates and pressures in the centrifuge is presented. A simple stage consisting of two centrifuges, in which one has tube vibration, is considered for this purpose. The results are compared with experiment. It is shown that waste tube vibration generates oscillations in waste and product flow rates that are observable outside the centrifuge. (author)