Sustainability, Recycling, and Upcycling with Centrifuges
Three terms that the manufacturing industry should constantly re-evaluate.
What does sustainability mean? It means handling resources responsibly and adopting an ethical stance, both economically and ecologically. It involves the most durable use of economic assets possible.
One of these assets is centrifugal separation technology. Hardly any other unit is used as multifunctionally across the entire spectrum of process engineering. No other apparatus offers as many simultaneous opportunities for implementing sustainability, recycling, and upcycling.
For over 40 years, Centrimax Winkelhorst Trenntechnik GmbH has been committed to sustainability within its sector. Today, it is one of the world's leading suppliers of used, yet fully refurbished centrifuges—specifically separators and decanters.
The production of centrifuges is intensive in terms of both material and labor costs. High centrifugal forces place extreme demands on the strength of the materials used. Consequently, the load-bearing parts of the drums are generally forged from highly corrosion-resistant materials or produced using centrifugal casting processes. This requires high temperatures and, therefore, high energy costs, as well as premium materials such as chrome-nickel-molybdenum, whose natural supply is finite and thus demands sustainable utilization. The further processing of these blanks into precise individual components requires specialized machine tools, leading again to high costs and significant energy consumption.
As a result, achieving the longest possible service life for these valuable centrifuges is a primary objective.
The first centrifuge was the milk centrifuge. It was also the very first product of centrifugal separation technology. The composition of milk has not changed since the introduction of the first hand-operated centrifuge, and the objective remains the same to this day: the skimming of whole milk. What has changed, however, is the structure of dairies—an evolution that shows no sign of stopping. From hand-operated centrifuges with an hourly capacity of approximately 20 liters, the largest milk centrifuges now achieve capacities of up to 80,000 liters per hour. Small village dairies have transformed into large-scale industrial dairy plants. In the course of this structural change, centrifuges become available whose sustainable reuse is imperative.
Maximum Standards in Refurbishment
This is where Centrimax is challenged in the truest sense of its logo: maximizing the utilization of centrifugal force. Following the acquisition of a centrifuge—for instance, one decommissioned due to a corporate merger—a complete general refurbishment (recycling) is carried out before it is redeployed, alongside upcycling through the integration of the latest control technology. The subsequent commissioning at the customer's site by Centrimax, followed by our After Sales Service, represents the final steps in completing the cycle of sustainability.
When a centrifuge is "no longer needed for milk," Centrimax is called upon to find a product with similar processing requirements or an operator with a comparable task. For example, after its life in a dairy, a machine originally marketed as a milk centrifuge can be used for the demanding task of extracting lemon peel oil—providing a highly sustainable and particularly cost-effective solution for the new operator.
The portfolio of applications offers numerous possibilities. This is especially true for centrifuges previously used in the food chain, pharmaceuticals, or the chemical industry. For instance, a beer centrifuge formerly used for wort or beer clarification can be repurposed for the concentration of brewer's yeast prior to extract recovery. In this way, a former waste product—brewer's yeast—is transformed into a high-quality seasoning: upcycling at its highest potential. The same applies to spent grain, which was previously disposed of as waste. Here, too, centrifugal separation technology is required to recover valuable proteins. Combined with the right aromas—also centrifuged—sustainable nutrition is made possible.
Your Partner for Sustainable Separation Technology
Centrimax maintains an inventory of over 700 centrifuges of various types and sizes. This selection, paired with over 60 years of expertise, consistently leads to success stories—both in new areas of application and in century-old standard sectors like the dairy industry. Here, the triple-aim of Sustainability-Recycling-Upcycling is practiced every single day. Global market leaders and start-ups alike find an "Eldorado" of centrifugal separation technology at Centrimax.
