Center-Drive Sludge Scraper

Center-Drive Sludge Scraper – Reliable Circular Clarifier Bottom Cleaning  

 

The Center-Drive Sludge Scraper is a bridge- or pier-mounted unit installed in the middle of circular primary/secondary clarifiers and thickeners. A single epicyclic gear motor, positioned on a central platform, turns a hollow main shaft at 0.01–0.05 rpm. Two or four cantilever scraper arms, fitted with neoprene or HDPE blades, sweep the 1:10 sloped floor and push settled sludge into a central hopper; simultaneous surface skimmers direct floatables to a peripheral trough. Torque is monitored by load cells or a mechanical shear-pin; overload alarms and automatic shut-down protect the drive. Models are available as half-bridge, full-bridge, or column-supported configurations for tanks 6–60 m diameter. Optional features include suction pipes for hydraulic sludge removal, concentrated pickets for 3–6 % solids thickening, and VFD for flow-paced operation. With no submerged bearings and only one moving assembly, the Center-Drive Sludge Scraper offers decades of low-maintenance, energy-efficient sludge collection in municipal sewage plants, industrial effluent clarifiers and waterworks sedimentation basins.