Fruits
such as prickly pear are used in various food and non-food
applications.
The
fruit is peeled to remove all the skin. Once the pulp is obtained, it
is passed through a decanter centrifuge with a screw conveyor to
separate the solid from the liquid, followed by a vertical disc
centrifuge for further treatment of the liquid phase. The vertical
disc separator is capable of separating a significant percentage of
water (about 60%) with a minimal amount of solid residue from the
pulp (about 30%).
The
solid phase can be further dried using a different type of
centrifuge, such as a basket centrifuge.