Simple Centrifuge Home build

107628 Views 132 Replies 23 Participants Last post by john galt, May 7, 2013

FastCote

Discussion Starter · Jul 19, 2008 (Edited)

After reading tons of messages on various forums I decided a centrifuge would be ideal for my filtering/dewatering system. I read trade offs of the pump driven style (Dieselcraft) vs a "real" centrifuge based on components from the guys at Simple Centrifuge

After sitting the fence a bit and hearing that the turnkey system from simplecentrifuge was going to cost $2,200 I decided to jump in and build one myself. I stumbled across Leon Griffin at WVO Designs who shares an open-source design using the simple centrifuge bowl and a welded enclosure.

I decided to spin a version of his design and try to build one as cheaply as possible and more importantly require no welding.

What follows are some pictures and captions detailing my progress.

81 - 100 of 133 Posts

Nightcrawler

· #81 · Jan 31, 2009

Hey Fascote, what do you think about this?
OB-20 Bio Diesel / Veg Oil Centrifuge Filter Kit NEW on eBay, also, Other Business Industrial, Business, Office Industrial (end time 16-Feb-09 21:24:14 GMT)
It looks tiny what do you think?

FastCote

Discussion Starter · #82 · Jan 31, 2009

Nightcrawler said:
Hey Fascote, what do you think about this?
OB-20 Bio Diesel / Veg Oil Centrifuge Filter Kit NEW on eBay, also, Other Business Industrial, Business, Office Industrial (end time 16-Feb-09 21:24:14 GMT)
It looks tiny what do you think?

Crawler,

There are tons of variations on those kinds of "pump driven" centrifuges. I won't badmouth them. There are advantages to the bowl style like mine and advantages to the "pump spinner" type like you linked. You can find smarter guys than me that can explain, but, here are a couple of points:

The big bowl holds more fluid, is MUCH quieter, and you can vary the flowrate ( the pump spinners are "forced" by the fact the pump actually drives the bowl). The lower the flowrate, the longer the oil sits in the bowl and the better separation you get.

That said, the spinner types actually produce higher "G" which, in theory, gives you better separation. The one thing that bothers me is that the setup most spinner guys do is to use a single drum and bank on multiple passes through getting ALL the junk out. That just seem counter intuitive to me. Why cross contaminate? It has nothing to do with the pump style, just that most of those folks seem to do it. If you go that route, I would suggest pumping from one drum to another. I think the reason most do not is because they have such a high flow rate you would have to babysit the thing, switching back and forth. With the bowl type, you can just set the flow rate nice and low and then walk away.

I think you can get great results with either centrifuge. On the DFA message boards, they guys with the centrifuges are getting 10,000 plus miles out of their truck filters.

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avengeusa

· #83 · Mar 25, 2009

I just ordered some aluminum, I have found the baldor dealer near me, and i am going to attempt to make one, I have a lathe, and have access to cnc lathes

the metal is not too pricey, low volume is 80 dollars for one 9 inch X 3.25 inch thich 6061 aluminum disc

I have to research the center a but more, I seen where the guy who built one was using the special nut for his, and it had to be an inch +-.001....

First post......

metal will be here in 2 days, I ordered a lot extra

vegginpsd

· #84 · Mar 25, 2009

avengeusa said:
I just ordered some aluminum, I have found the baldor dealer near me, and i am going to attempt to make one, I have a lathe, and have access to cnc lathes

the metal is not too pricey, low volume is 80 dollars for one 9 inch X 3.25 inch thich 6061 aluminum disc

I have to research the center a but more, I seen where the guy who built one was using the special nut for his, and it had to be an inch +-.001....

First post......

metal will be here in 2 days, I ordered a lot extra

Would it be close enough to being in balance by turning one? That thing could become a gernade of its out of balance. Keep us posted on the project please.

The one I'm running sure runs smooth. Works great too. You are going to love it. If you needs pictures of the one I'm running, just PM me.

avengeusa

· #85 · Mar 26, 2009

I think turning in a cnc will do fine if it is billet material, which mine is, porous material would be out of balance for sure

I will do some testing of the first unit that i turn

when looking at the ones from simple centrifuge and others i see no marks or machining which would balance the bowl......

so i assume turning will be adequate

vegginpsd

· #86 · Mar 26, 2009

avengeusa said:
I think turning in a cnc will do fine if it is billet material, which mine is, porous material would be out of balance for sure

I will do some testing of the first unit that i turn

when looking at the ones from simple centrifuge and others i see no marks or machining which would balance the bowl......

so i assume turning will be adequate

Actually, I think you are right about the lack of balancing holes. I'l have to look at mine and see if there is anything that resembles material romoved for balance. The only varieable might be the placement of the drain holes in the bottom of the rotor. . . i.e having the drain holes indexed and concentric.

Nightcrawler

· #87 · Mar 26, 2009

Hey Fastcote, Sorry I missed your post somehow. Thanks for that advice. I'm going to go with your idea. I'm not sure excactly how over here though. I do have an engineering buddy that could make the bowl I guess. I will have to go back through this thread to see what I need to get made. Unless I can buy from the states & get it posted, but that will probably be lots of$$$$$$$$$

avengeusa

· #88 · Mar 26, 2009

Nightcrawler said:
Hey Fastcote, Sorry I missed your post somehow. Thanks for that advice. I'm going to go with your idea. I'm not sure excactly how over here though. I do have an engineering buddy that could make the bowl I guess. I will have to go back through this thread to see what I need to get made. Unless I can buy from the states & get it posted, but that will probably be lots of$$$$$$$$$

buying from the states is not that hard to do

usps ships to england all the time

Nightcrawler

· #89 · Mar 26, 2009

Yea but its very very expensive. I just found this:
Oilybits, OBX Series Spinning Bowl Centrifuge - Centrifuges - Oilybits.com - The U.K's Premier Refuelling & Bio Fuel Equipment Provider
What do you guys think? One bad thing is it takes 4 weeks once ordered.

avengeusa

· #90 · Mar 27, 2009

Ok, I have the aluminum, plenty of it, cut into slices.....

I am going to make a couple 8 inch bowls to start, and i am also going to make a larger 9 inch bowl for kicks and giggles, so the id of the larger bowl will be 8.5 inches, it being 1 inch larger should give more centrifugal force, it will be made just a bit more stout just in case........

These will be made with a cnc machine, i will leave the drain holes out of the larger unit at first to see how it holds up to the rpms.......

Nightcrawler

· #91 · Mar 27, 2009

Sounds interesting. I emailed the place I posted the link above for today. They said it takes 4 weeks from order to get the centrifuge because they buy them to order from the states:doh: So I'm going to have a lookasee on us ebay & other sites now to see how much I could get one for & see what the shipping would be. Isn't your voltage different over there though?
I'm not sure if the motor would work here. We are 240 volts.

avengeusa

· #92 · Mar 27, 2009

Nightcrawler said:
Sounds interesting. I emailed the place I posted the link above for today. They said it takes 4 weeks from order to get the centrifuge because they buy them to order from the states:doh: So I'm going to have a lookasee on us ebay & other sites now to see how much I could get one for & see what the shipping would be. Isn't your voltage different over there though?
I'm not sure if the motor would work here. We are 240 volts.

the motor is wired a bit different for european voltage, not an issue at all

If i were you i would snag a bowl, and motor, or even source the motor from europe, i bet baldor has a distributor in europe and would save you a lot, then you would only need a bowl, and heater from the states, the rest is simple

Nightcrawler

· #93 · Mar 29, 2009

:rockwoot:Hey what do you think of this:
Raw Power, WVO Centrifuge, Complete | WVO Designs
They ship to the uk too....:woot:

avengeusa

· #94 · Mar 29, 2009

Nightcrawler said:
:rockwoot:Hey what do you think of this:
Raw Power, WVO Centrifuge, Complete | WVO Designs
They ship to the uk too....:woot:

I looked at that one, and kinda like it, but i am thinking i can build my own for 500 ish us dollars

the bowls are out already for machining, and as soon as i have them back i will make the unit bodies and the lid, then it is off to the races for me, I am making 4 units for use and testing, i am curious how much better the larger diameter bowl works

avengeusa

· #95 · Mar 30, 2009

the aluminum is in the shop, setting up to have them machined right now.....

I am going to anodize them for surface protection, i am thinking blue.....

Nightcrawler

· #96 · Mar 30, 2009

Sounds cool. I think I'm going to buy one of these Raw power fuges from wvo designs. It looks like there website is down, but as soon as its working I'm going to be checking the final price with a heater, then probably buy one.

avengeusa

· #97 · Mar 31, 2009

Nightcrawler said:
Sounds cool. I think I'm going to buy one of these Raw power fuges from wvo designs. It looks like there website is down, but as soon as its working I'm going to be checking the final price with a heater, then probably buy one.

i like the looks of that unit

Nightcrawler

· #98 · Mar 31, 2009

Yea me too. I got a reply which has confussed me a little. I asked if the machine would work on uk 240 volts. This is the reply:

"The standard motor will work on 240V but the 50hz will make it run 20% slower. The three phase or high speed option comes with an inverter/VFD that will allow you to run up to 6000rpm and will work on your power.

Price is $995 for the base unit plus $300 for the upgrade motor and controller. Shipping is $100 and I will be able to ship next week."

So I'm now worried if the cheaper fuge is not going to be up to the job. If I have to upgrade to the better motor than the price will be $1295. I noticed tonight that DFA sell the "Simple Cenrifuge" for $1500 which looks like a better bowl. I'm not sure if thats a better machine or not. I'm not sure if I will be better off buying from them as it looks like I will be buying a Veggiestroke kit from them. I could really do with some advice on these fuges. Maybe I should save money on the fuge & buy just the bowl & make a system. arrrrrgggggggg ! I'm going to bed..

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AFBLUE

· #99 · Mar 31, 2009 (Edited)

I am sure they can send you the motor specs like the model # or shaft size and type and motor RPM. Then you can buy the centrifuge minus the motor and you can buy a 240/50 motor in the UK and probably save a few $100 especially because the motor is the heaviest part and going to cost the most to ship.

The one that DFA sells is from Simple Centrifuge ...putting a centrifuge in every garage!

Check out Graham Lamings Biodiesel site, he has alot of parts that are relevant to UK. Like I think your water heater elements have a thermostat attached. I would kill for one of those here in the states!!
Graham's biodiesel docs.

vegginpsd

· #100 · Mar 31, 2009

Nightcrawler said:
Yea me too. I got a reply which has confussed me a little. I asked if the machine would work on uk 240 volts. This is the reply:

"The standard motor will work on 240V but the 50hz will make it run 20% slower. The three phase or high speed option comes with an inverter/VFD that will allow you to run up to 6000rpm and will work on your power.

Price is $995 for the base unit plus $300 for the upgrade motor and controller. Shipping is $100 and I will be able to ship next week."

So I'm now worried if the cheaper fuge is not going to be up to the job. If I have to upgrade to the better motor than the price will be $1295. I noticed tonight that DFA sell the "Simple Cenrifuge" for $1500 which looks like a better bowl. I'm not sure if thats a better machine or not. I'm not sure if I will be better off buying from them as it looks like I will be buying a Veggiestroke kit from them. I could really do with some advice on these fuges. Maybe I should save money on the fuge & buy just the bowl & make a system. arrrrrgggggggg ! I'm going to bed..

Nitecrawler-

You can buy the rotor direct from simplecentrifuge.com. Call and talk to Mike. He's a great guy and very knowledgeable. You certainly could have the housing fabricated over there. The included instructions are first class, and a descent machinist could do it with ease. Ask for the Blador MFG ID # of the motor as I am sure it is available there as it is here. I would sure think that would be a far less costly way to go.:thumb:

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