Essentially, centrifugal separators work the same way but differ in design and purpose. They can be designed for example as clarifiers, as spore and bacteria-removing separators, and as regular milk separators. Using milk as an example, here is what the different separators do and how they improve your product quality:
• Clarifiers are first in line when it comes to separation. Raw milk may contain all kinds of material that you do not want to introduce in your processing line, such as sand, soil, dust and precipitated protein. Clarifying your milk prior to processing will protect your downstream equipment by removing this kind of fouling material.
• Regular milk separators are measured on their ability to separate cream from skim milk. That is a quality parameter with two sides to it; on the one hand it depends on the design of the separator and the rate at which the milk flows through it. On the other hand it depends on the size and state of the fat globules. If not handled with care, fat globules break and leak their contents into the product, making the fat more difficult to separate by centrifugal force.
• Bactofuges (spore and bacteria-removing separators) are specially designed airtight separators. They improve the quality of milk used in cheese-making by reducing the number of spores formed by specific bacteria strains.
