It does not mechanicaly squeeze the trim like a screw press does. It uses centrifgal force instead. It’s like a bag centrifuge except no bag, it is continuous, but only gets 70%-80% of the liquid out because material is only in contact with the fuge for 1 to 3 seconds.
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Not quite. You can adjust the feed rate, conveyor rate, and gate height to change thruput and solvent separation efficiency. Like every other process its a balance of variables that determine performance.
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Did you notice a guy in a kilt next to you when you started this conversation at MJBizcon?
Because I did overhear someone ask “is that a screw press?”…and “no, it’s more of a laid down centrifuge” seems eerily familiar…
I don’t think I stuck around for the rest.
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Thanks @MrRandy.
That makes way more sense!!
Edit: so a true canna-decanter might not leave so much solvent behind?
Or is there enough leeway in (some) fuges build for other industries to achieve 95% solvent removal?
Screw press gets much drier material on output
I’ve actually got a typical basket centrifuge at my facility and it fills too fast for our out put and at times gets off centered which sends it vibrating in some direction. We expected the quick filling of the bag, so we planned on a second basket centrifuge and a T and ball valve to switch the flow while the bag gets changed out for continuous flow.
I am now considering a decanter style centrifuge if I can find a good sized unit that is efficient. This thread is great and I’d love some real feedback from someone who has experience with a decanter centrifuge in the cannabis/hemp process.
Thanks for all the info everyone!
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You’re currently running a slurry into a basket?
Yeah, over feeding that setup can get you into trouble really fast, especially if you’ve got the speed turned up to 11 or 12 so you can feed it faster…
I would tend to move to a peeler next…
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You can achieve high solvent separation by slowing thruput and increasing residence time(conveyor speed) and surface area on the “beach”. Youll need to lower the gates to lower pool height.
A screw press will definitely give you more desirables back but also more undesirables. I consider solvent loss a good compromise. Everything is a give and take so id rather run more material at a lower efficiency than deal with more processing time for a marginal return. For me its dollars/time.
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Yeah that’s why I am considering the decanter. I put together an interesting project to say the least, and it’s a custom built cryo system with a closed loop temp control all built inside a custom 18’ freezer.
I just finished the facility and we’re panning out some details. I have a custom built FFE as well and I am thinking about starting a thread just to put this system out here to get all levels of feed back and make it more of an open source project.
@cyclopath Yes I am pumping the slurry into the basket centrifuge with a 25 micron bag. We already went too fast with the centrifuge but we increased the drive speed for the pump pulling from the centrifuge and that leveled things out just fine for now… I will be needing a second centrifuge for now though until I have enough to go for a decanter.
What do you mean by a peeler?
Thanks guys
I find the peeler appealing
for the neat trick it can do
you feed the wee beast with a slurry
it’s empties itself when you’re through
Although I have a slightly different game in mind…
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So a decanter centrifuge allows for continual throughout @Rowan.
Basically you do a 5000 pound cold ETOH biomass slurry, let that shit soak and agitate etc.
Then you begin feeding the solution through the decanter and as it goes through it separates all the fluid from the biomass while pushing the biomass through to a seperate collection area.
It’s going to be the future of high level extraction because basically you can pipe 5 huge slurry vats and just pump them through starting at 1 then 2 then tank 3 etc. by the time tank 1 is ready to pump through Again you’ve changed the slurry and let it soak and agitate.
It’s the way to do ethanol on a continual and never ending non batch based extraction.
You will probably need a screw press for the biomass that’s seperate from the slurry tho, I’m not sure what the efficiency is of actually drying the biomass as it goes through the decanter.
The guys at Kyte are pretty solid, idk about their decanters but their Hempfuges (just a centrifuge,) are price super super low compared to ace and delta etc for similar UL listing and sizes etc
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Dewax !!!
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this cake is all fats !!
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Whahaha hell yeah 
Options are endless with a tool like that
Go 4 it
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I don’t know what you consider “good sized” but I have a Sharples P660, good for 3-5 GPM, at one point it was purchased from CRE in Texas for close to $30k, we paid around $14k for it without a control panel (the person recommending it was clueless and reckless with other people’s $$$) and I’d sell it for $8k OBO, currently just east of Denver but could certainly palletize and ship if there was interest. We had issues with slurry clogging pumps/lines and keeping it fed, IMO this unit would be a lot better with some sort of corkscrew style pump/feeder to feed slurry of varying consistency into the input port. We got a basket centrifuge and changed how we handled material instead and haven’t looked back. See attached PDF for info on it I received from Ron Holt of CRE when I inquired about it
Sharpls P66.pdf (492.6 KB)
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Dammit @cyclopath you let the cat out of the bag 
Here we go folks, this family of centrifuges are continuous and not decanter styles which have limits i describe throughout this thread. I had to go to my secret notebook for these as I am working on a design that fixes a few of the problems of the systems below. Few different styles below for your enjoyment and drooling pleasure…
Overview of concept here
PUSHER SOLID/LIQUID CENTRIFUGE and here, here, here
PEELER CENTRIFUGE HERE, here, here, here
INVERTED BAG STYLE here and here
WIKI here
Why they are awesome here
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My understanding from the decanter OEM’s and books is that they only get 70-80% of solvent out of the biomass due to their short 1-3 second contact time with the centrifuge.
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I gotta imagine you can custom design one for a longer spin length so it spend more time in rotation
In theory yes. But the rotor is your biggest cost and the longer it gets it gets more expensive. The biggest ones out there are pushing the limit to how long the screw can be and their residence time is very low. They also don’t hold a lot of volume of biomass.
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Here is a great video showing a real decanter model in action. It should help you get your mind around what is going inside these things. Note that the outside centrifuge spins at a much faster RPM than the screw. To imagine what is going on try to think about your material being flug to the outer wall and sticking to it while the screw pushes the material to the end. Enjoy.
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