The decanter centrifuge has become a major processing tool in a wide range of liquid/solid separation applications. There are lots companies have ability to manufacture types of decanter centrifuges.
History Of Top Decanter Centrifuge Company
By the mid-1940s, only two companies were working on decanters Bird Machine and Sharpies. In the ensuing 55 years, the number of manufacturers has increased many-fold, through a peak in numbers, with a decreasing number at the turn of another century. The 1990s trend in mergers and acquisitions, extending into the new century, has meant that, of the eight leading manufacturers mentioned at the end, not one remains as an independent company, even if they exist at all.
The decanter centrifuge is simple in concept, but complicated in practice. It is therefore expensive to make, and has relatively low profit margins. It follows that a flesh entry into the marketplace needs strong corporate support, coupled with good engineering, a willingness to invest in a strong process engineering department, and possibly a niche market to target. One way to enter the business has been to establish working relationships with an existing manufacturer, as, for example, Broadbent did with Bird, and, later, with Tanabe, or as Tomoe did with Sharpies and then Alfa Laval.
That so many companies have entered the decanter business is a sign of the importance of the decanter to the process industries. It has not proved to be an easy manufacturing sector to stay in: at the time of writing three of the world’s leading decanter manufacturers are for sale.
The list of significant former manufacturers of decanters is quite long,
including:
- Comi Condor, Italy, recently stopped making decanters (but still makes
other types of centrifuges). - Dorr Oliver, USA, acquired first by Krauss Maffei, then by a Canadian investment company who sold the centrifuge interests to Alfa Laval, but the decanter range had already been dropped.
- International Combustion, UK, acquired by Rolls Royce and stopped making centrifuges altogether.
- Robatel, France, acquired by Rousselet, who decided not to continue the decanter range (but still make other types of centrifuges).
- Klöckner, Germany, K16ckner’s KHD subsidiary, including Humboldt decanters, acquired by Baker Process/Bird Machine.
- Krupp, Germany, stopped making decanters many years ago.
- Sharpies, USA, acquired by Pennsalt/Pennwalt, then sold to Alfa Laval,
and the decanter ranges merged.
In the late 1960s a small ripple in the decanter world was caused by a Danish engineer, Kruger, who developed the Total decanter, with good performance in waste sludge treatment. This was acquired by Niro, a spin-off from the Danish sugar company, but the Niro decanter has disappeared, following the company’s acquisition by GEA, which merged the decanter business with Westfalia.
Other well known companies have been acquired over the years, but have kept their identity, as illustrated in the list below.
Well-known Decanter Centrifuge Manufacturers Today
Despite these changes, the decanter manufacturing sector is still a large one. The following list gives the manufacturers believed to be operating in recent year, by country of ownership, with parent companies where these are known.
Germany
Flottweg
Mannesmann
Hiller
Japan
IHI Ishikawa-Harima Heavy Industries
Sweden
Alfa Laval Separation
USA
American Filtration & Separations Society
HUTCHISON HAYES PIONEER DEVELOPER
Pennwalt Ltd.
SWECO
US Centrifuge Systems
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