De Laval centrifugal cream separator
Separadora centrífuga de nata de De Laval
- Date
- 1878 · confidence high
- Place
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Credited to
- Gustaf de Laval
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A machine that separates cream from milk by centrifugal force, continuously and quickly, patented by De Laval in 1878. It made skimming an industrial operation.
Wilhelm Lefeldt and Lentsch had already patented a centrifugal separator in Germany in 1877, but one working in batches; De Laval made it continuous and practical.
What it led to
- industrial-scale dairy and butter making
- the company AB Separator (1883) that became Alfa Laval
- centrifuges for other mixtures (oils, yeasts, plasma)