CIPM is organized by the China Association for Pharmaceutical Equipment (CAPE). The 2026 Xiamen edition occupied more than 230,000 square metres, with over 13,000 booths. More than 1,800 pharmaceutical equipment companies from nearly 30 countries and regions took part, together with tens of thousands of professional visitors. The floor was divided into eight equipment areas — active pharmaceutical ingredients, formulations, packaging, laboratory and testing, pharmaceutical water and gas, milling, traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces, and components — and three special zones for engineering purification and validation, biopharmaceutical equipment, and intelligent manufacturing. Centrifuges sit in that layout as API separation equipment, as broth and biologics separation equipment, and as clarification and residue-dewatering equipment on traditional Chinese medicine extract lines.

The machine on the stand was a sanitary decanter centrifuge built for pharmaceutical duties. Seals and lubricants on product-contact parts follow food and pharmaceutical material requirements. The bowl section is arranged for clean-in-place washing, with multi-stage cleaning and high-pressure nozzles, and an inert-gas arrangement is available where solvent vapour is part of the process. The pharmaceutical series covers models LW250 to LW520, with capacities of about 1 to 20 m³/h, for plant-material extraction, medicated-liquid clarification and herb-residue dewatering. Visitors could walk the length of the machine, look at the hinged cover and the solids discharge, and compare that layout with an extraction or fermentation line.

Conversations at the booth stayed on process numbers. Engineers from traditional Chinese medicine plants asked how dry the discharged residue can be, and how clear the separated liquid stays, when the feed is a decoction or an extract slurry. API and fermentation visitors asked about continuous running on broth and intermediate slurries, cleaning between batches, and protection on solvent duties. Engineering companies asked how the decanter fits a pretreatment package ahead of concentration and drying. Contact details were taken at the table so those reviews can continue after the show.

The same questions appear on installed machines. An LW450 two-phase decanter at a herbal-medicine producer handles about 6–8 m³/h. After separation, residue moisture is held to 75% or below, and solids in the liquid phase are held to 0.5% or below. Those results gave visitors a reference while they looked at the machine in Hall 6. Related fermentation duties — broth clarification, metabolite recovery and biomass separation — are covered by the fermentation decanter series.

CIPM 2026 in Xiamen

What Visitors Asked About

• Decanter selection for herbal extraction, medicated-liquid clarification and herb-residue dewatering.
• Fermentation-broth clarification, metabolite recovery and biomass separation.
• CIP cleaning, sanitary materials and inert-gas protection on solvent processes.
• Capacity, cake moisture and centrate solids for a stated feed.
• How a decanter sits in a pretreatment line ahead of concentration and drying.
• Support from equipment selection and layout through commissioning.

ZK SEPARATION builds decanter centrifuges for pharmaceutical, fermentation, food and environmental duties. With more than 20 years in separation equipment, 400+ machines a year, 60+ patents and 150+ partners, the Xiamen meetings were used to match bowl size, materials and cleaning configuration to each duty. Contacts collected at booth 6-A48 will be followed up with the relevant application notes.

Continue the Discussion

Plants that missed the stand can still send a feed description — solids content, particle character, solvent or hygiene constraints, and the result required. The team will reply with a selection for the pharmaceutical decanter.

Email: sale@zkcentrifuge.com