Centrifugal separation of oil and water from streams that is concentrated with oil such as the ones from\r\nthe oil spill disasters is investigated in this study. The existing theories are largely for Stokes settling of\r\noil drops. In this study, two layers, one rich in oil and another rich in water are allowed to spin in a\r\ncentrifuge. The tangential velocity profile is derived from the equations of continuity and motion. The\r\npower drawn at the inner rotor is calculated for a set of parameters for the system and an angular speed\r\n RPM (revolutions per minute). Each simulation required the solution of four simultaneous equations\r\nand simultaneous unknowns. The power draw was found to be linear with angular rotor speed on a loglog\r\nplot. The viscosity of the oil was increased five times to study the effect on the power draw. An\r\nexpression of the interlayer thickness ratio () was obtained by use of a component mass balance on\r\noil streams that flow in and out of the continuous centrifuge.
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