Evaluation of High Capacity Continuous Centrifugals

Two seasons ago it became necessary to refurbish the Band Ccentrifugal stations at some of the Tongaat-Hulett mills, the reason being that the majority of the machines were reaching the end of their useful life (approximately 20 years) and the baskets were developing fatigue cracks. At that stage, with the exception of Felixton, the most widely used centrifugal on Band C-massecuite was the BMA K850 which, on average, handles C-massecuite throughputs of 1200 kg/h with molasses purity rises ranging from 2 to 5 units. This necessitated the use of a large number of machines with the resultant need for more floor space and higher maintenance and operator costs. To refurbish the BMA K850, the replacement cost/basket was in the order of R52 000.