Hiller GmbH has been developing and producing decanter centrifuges for over 50 years, using its expertise to solve separation tasks across a wide range of industries and is utilising machine tools from WFL Millturn Technologies, supplied in the UK by Market Harborough-based Kyal Machine Tools.
If someone were to mention fruit and vegetable juices, olive oil, fish processing, dairy products, kitchen waste, sewage sludge treatment, algae harvesting, oil preparation or the production of plant extracts, you wouldn’t immediately know what connected all these different areas.
Hiller decanters are used to separate milk and cream in the food industry, and to produce olive oil. You can assume that 80–90% of Spanish olive oil has gone through a Hiller decanter, for example. In the chemicals industry, decanters are used to separate solvents or to treat wastewater. Wastewater treatment is probably the most important and sustainable area of use for this technology.
Decanters are used to separate solids and liquids in sewage treatment plants.
What actually is a decanter? A decanter consists of a cylindrical housing with a rotating bowl inside. The bowl is divided into two sections by a partition wall. The liquid to be separated is fed into one section, while the end product and the solid material from the separation process are fed out into the other.
When the bowl rotates, this creates a centrifugal force which pushes the solids to the outside. At the same time, the heavier liquids, such as water, sink toward the outer wall of the bowl where they then flow out. Lighter liquids like oil float to the surface of the heavier liquid and are also separated. Decanter technology offers a very effective, energy-efficient means of separating liquids and solids.
Hiller produces the decanters in-house, manufacturing the majority of the decanter components. Incorporating complete machining, Hiller GmbH machines many different components for its decanter centrifuges using MILLTURN turning/milling centres from WFL. At the heart of the decanter is a rotor, which comprises a screw conveyor, bowl and drive unit and is made entirely using WFL machines.
