Over 10,000+ customers' choice, Focus on screening industry 40+ years
Tapioca flour is an important basic raw material in the food, pharmaceutical, chemical and bio‑fermentation industries. From tapioca starch to whole tapioca flour, from baking powders to chemical auxiliaries, the fineness uniformity and purity of tapioca flour directly determine the quality of the end product.
However, tapioca flour screening has always been a persistent challenge for manufacturers.
Tapioca itself has a high fibre content, and during processing the fibres tend to wrap around the screen mesh. Tapioca starch particles are fine and easily block the mesh openings. Tapioca flour is also quite sticky, prone to adhesion under friction and pressure, and its hygroscopic nature can cause moisture‑induced caking if humidity is not properly controlled – these characteristics combined make tapioca flour one of the recognised "difficult‑to‑screen" materials.
When traditional vibrating screens handle tapioca flour, screening efficiency drops noticeably after just a few hours of operation. Fibres wrap around the mesh openings, fine powder adheres to the screen surface, and lumps block the passage – after each run, operators must stop the machine, dismantle the screen and clean it manually. These frequent stoppages for screen cleaning not only reduce line efficiency but also increase labour costs and material loss.
Is there a screening method that allows the screen to "keep itself clean", without relying on frequent manual cleaning?
The Gaofu WSA series centrifugal sifter is a professional machine designed specifically to solve this problem. With continuous airflow scouring for automatic screen cleaning, it liberates tapioca flour screening from the endless cycle of "blinding – stoppage – cleaning".
Traditional vibrating screens rely on the material's own gravity to pass through the screen. Material falls onto the screen surface, and vibration allows particles smaller than the mesh openings to "drop" through. The limitation of this method is that for light, sticky, fibrous materials such as tapioca flour, particles either "float" on the screen surface because of their low bulk density and cannot fall through, or they "stick" to the mesh openings because of strong adhesion and refuse to leave.
The Gaofu centrifugal sifter completely changes this logic.
The core principle of the equipment can be summarised in four words: airflow through‑screen.
Material enters the equipment through a screw conveying system and is thoroughly mixed and atomised with high‑speed airflow inside a sealed chamber. It then enters the cylindrical screen area, where rotating blades mounted on the main shaft spin at 800 to 1,500 rpm, generating centrifugal force and spiral thrust. Under the combined action of these two forces, the material is suspended and thrown toward the inner wall of the screen, passing through the mesh in a "jetting" manner – fine powder smaller than the mesh openings is discharged from the fines outlet, while oversize material moves along the cylinder wall and is discharged from the coarse outlet.
Material no longer relies on gravity to "fall" through the screen – it "flies" through the screen under airflow propulsion.
The key breakthrough of this technical approach is that the high‑speed airflow thoroughly breaks up agglomerates in the tapioca flour, allowing the material to pass through the screen as individual particles. For tapioca flour, which is prone to adhesion, caking and high fibre content, the airflow‑through‑screen method effectively reduces the contact time and contact area between the material and the screen, fundamentally reducing the probability of screen blinding from a physical principle perspective.
The most outstanding feature of the Gaofu centrifugal sifter is its automatic screen cleaning mechanism through continuous airflow scouring.
On traditional vibrating screens, once material adheres to the mesh openings, there is no external force to remove it, and the blinding only gets worse. During operation of the centrifugal sifter, the swirling airflow continuously scours the screen surface. This scouring action produces two direct effects:
First, it blows off fine powder and fibres adhering to the mesh openings. Once fine powder and fibres from tapioca flour stick to the mesh, the continuous airflow carries them away, keeping the openings clear. Operators no longer need to stop the machine frequently, dismantle the equipment and perform manual cleaning.
Second, it disrupts electrostatic adhesion. Tapioca flour tends to generate static electricity during high‑speed motion, and fine powder is attracted to the screen surface, forming a "powder film". The continuous airflow effectively disrupts this electrostatic adhesion, keeping the fine powder that would otherwise "stick" to the screen in a suspended state, allowing it to pass through the mesh smoothly.
For false lumps in tapioca flour, the equipment also has a re‑crushing function. Lumpy material is further broken down by the impeller blades before being screened – this not only reduces screen blinding but also prevents lumps from being rejected as waste, avoiding raw material loss.
Screen service life is significantly extended. The screen mesh of traditional vibrating screens bears the continuous pressure of material gravity, making it prone to deformation and damage. The screen of the centrifugal sifter is mounted vertically, so during operation it does not suffer from continuous gravitational pressure from the material – the mesh maintains its natural state and is less prone to deformation. Combined with the cleaning effect of airflow scouring, screen life is greatly extended.
From the perspective of actual production conditions in tapioca flour processing, the Gaofu centrifugal sifter delivers value in four dimensions:
1. Reduced manual cleaning frequency, freeing up labour.
When traditional vibrating screens handle tapioca flour, they require stoppages for screen cleaning every few hours. Operators must dismantle the equipment, remove the screen, manually remove adhered material and entangled fibres, and then reassemble – each cleaning is time‑consuming and labour‑intensive. The continuous airflow scouring of the centrifugal sifter keeps the screen clear at all times, allowing the equipment to run continuously for long periods. Operators are freed from the burden of frequent screen cleaning and can focus their efforts on other aspects of production management.
2. Improved screening efficiency and throughput.
The screening efficiency of the centrifugal sifter can reach over 95%, with throughput 5 to 10 times or more that of traditional vibrating screens. For tapioca flour processors, this means more material can be processed in the same production time, and the overall capacity of the production line is fully utilised.
3. Enclosed dust‑free operation, improving the workshop environment.
The centrifugal sifter has a fully enclosed design, with no dust escape during operation. Tapioca flour is light and easily becomes airborne; traditional screening equipment often allows large amounts of fine powder to disperse, causing material loss and workshop contamination. The fully enclosed structure solves this problem at the source, effectively controlling workshop dust concentration.
4. Reduced total operating costs.
Extended screen life reduces the frequency of screen replacement and spare parts procurement costs; automatic screen cleaning reduces labour hours for manual cleaning; the fully enclosed structure reduces material loss – the combined effect of these three benefits keeps the long‑term operating costs of the equipment under control.
The Gaofu WSA series centrifugal sifter is suitable for screening powder materials in the range of 80 to 500 mesh. For tapioca flour processing, whether it is fine classification of tapioca starch (100‑200 mesh) or impurity removal of whole tapioca flour, different mesh sizes can be changed on the same machine.
The WSA series is available in four models: WSA‑600, WSA‑800, WSA‑1000 and WSA‑1200. All models have a main shaft speed of 800 to 1,500 rpm and cover a mesh range of 20 to 500 mesh. The equipment is made of 304/316L food‑grade stainless steel, meeting the hygiene requirements of the food processing industry. It has a compact size, light weight, smooth operation without vibration, and excellent sealing performance.
The equipment can be used as a single unit or in combination with multiple units, supports long‑term continuous operation, and is safe and reliable. It can also be connected in series with pneumatic conveying systems, suitable for both positive and negative pressure air systems.
Food Industry Client Testimonials
Nestlé, CP Group, Haitian Flavour & Fragrance, Yihai Kerry, Yili, Mengniu,Shuanghui, Wahaha, Master Kong, Want Want, Anjoy Foods, Angel Yeast,Yangyuan Foods, Uni-President Enterprises, Qiaqia Food, Luhua Group,Alpenliebe, Golden Monkey, Orion, Xizhilang,Sanquan Foods, Synear Food, Oishi, Wong Lo Kat, Yanjing Beer, Seamild,Jinpai, Chubang, Hengshun Vinegar Industry, Longda Group, Beijing Daoxiangcun, Anhe Dairy,Weiwei Group, Xiangpiaopiao, Maiquer, Tianbing, Binqi Food, Ligao Okun
About Gaofu
Xinxiang Gaofu Machinery Co., Ltd. was founded back in the 1980s. With over 40 years of development, it has been certified as a National-level Specialized, Refined, Unique & Innovative Little Giant Enterprise, National Green Factory, National High-tech Enterprise, and National Intellectual Property Advantage Enterprise, and serves as the President Unit of China Vibration Screening Industry Association.
The company is accredited with the Henan Provincial Industrial Design Center, Henan Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Intelligent On-line Screening System, and Xinxiang Municipal Engineering Technology Research Center for Fine Screening.
Gaofu has obtained more than 500 patents including invention patents, utility model patents and design patents, been awarded the Science and Technology Achievement Prize issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, and participated in drafting and formulating 4 national standards.
Gaofu's product portfolio covers multiple series and hundreds of specifications, including vibrating screening equipment, conveying equipment, coal crushing equipment, filtration equipment and automatic material handling systems.
Core products include vibrating screens, screening machines, vibratory sifters, rotary vibrating screens, ultrasonic vibrating screens, linear vibrating screens, airflow screens, gyratory screens, roller screens, dewatering screens, bar screens, vacuum feeding machines, dust-free feeding stations, bulk bag feeding stations, feeding systems, automatic powder feeding systems, automatic slag-discharging filters, leaf filters, clay filters, toothed roll crushers, coal crushers and other machinery.
These products are widely applied in food, pharmaceutical, chemical, metallurgy, construction materials, mining, thermal power, environmental protection and many other industries, winning recognition and trust from over 10,000 clients worldwide.
Gaofu products enjoy strong sales across Greater China, and are exported to more than 100 countries and regions such as Russia, Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Japan, Brazil and South Africa.
Upholding the corporate mission of Improving material quality & efficiency to fully satisfy customer demands, Gaofu maintains long-term partnerships with clients to achieve win-win development.
At present, Gaofu is an official qualified supplier for numerous Fortune Global 500 enterprises, including CNPC, Sinopec, Sinochem Holdings, China Resources Group, Sinopharm Group, COFCO, China National Building Material, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Jinchuan Group and more.
Gaofu Machinery ranks No.1 in global sales volume of vibrating screens.
In May 2024, Frost & Sullivan, a world-renowned international consulting firm, issued a Market Position Verification Certificate confirming that Gaofu achieved the world’s largest shipment volume of vibrating screens in the global market in 2023.
