Abstract: An improved centrifuge apparatus comprising a spindle with an affixed bowl and a drive shaft passing through the spindle with a plurality of scraper blades affixed which rotate within the bowl. The spindle is driven by a pulley with a belt attached to a motor. The centrifuge has a clutch mechanism which provides a positive lock to insure synchronous blade and bowl rotation during processing. The clutch mechanism comprises a shifting coupling attached to the drive shaft with a bottom set of teeth and a top set of teeth. The bottom set of teeth interlockingly engage a matching set of teeth located on either the pulley or the top of the spindle. The top set of teeth interlockingly engage a matching set of teeth that are either immovably attached to a plate or attached to a sprocket which is rotatably attached to the plate.

Abstract: An improved blade design and method for enhancing the efficiency of operation of a centrifuge is disclosed based on measuring a varying value of the load on the centrifuge as the flow of contaminated fluid is injected into the centrifuge. The centrifuge has a plurality of blades with radially overlapping edges to keep the fluid being centrifuged compartmentalized and thus quiet for maximum efficiency. Additionally, the scraping blade assembly has blades which are angled in the scraping direction to force the solids towards the exit of the centrifuge, whether that be at the bottom or the top. A programmable logic controller monitors the load on the drive motor and compares a baseline value of load after accelerating the rotor to speed to the value of load while the contaminated fluid is injected into the rotor.