There are several different types of centrifuges as per their requirement and functioning:
1. Simple centrifuges are used in biology and biochemistry for isolating and separating biocompounds on the basis of molecular weight. These will tend to rotate at a slower rate than an ultracentrifuge, and have larger rotors, and be optimized for holding large quantities of material at intermediate acceleration.
2. Standalone centrifuges for drying (hand-washed) clothes - usually with a water outlet.
3. Other centrifuges, the first being the Zippe-type, are used to separate isotopes, and these kinds of centrifuges are in use in nuclear power and nuclear weapon programs.
4. The ultracentrifuge is a device invented in 1925 by Theodor Svedberg, which by use of very high acceleration, and allowing the observation of sedimentation rates for macromolecules, allowed for the determination of their approximate molecular weights. Svedberg won the 1926 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his invention.
5. Exceptionally large centrifuges are used to test the reactions of pilots and astronauts to acceleration above those experienced in the Earth's gravity.
6. In soil mechanics, centrifuges utilize centrifugal acceleration to match soil stresses in a scale model to those found in reality.
7. Large industrial centrifuges are commonly used in water and wastewater treatment to dry sludges. The resulting dry product is often termed cake and the water leaving a centrifugal after most of the solids have been removed is called centrate.
8. Centrifuges are used in the attraction Mission: SPACE, located at the EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World. Florida, which propels riders using a combination of a centrifuge and a motion simulator to simulate the feeling of going into space.
9. Centrifuges are used to enrich uranium. The heavier U238 isotopes in the UF6 gas tend to concentrate at the walls of the centrifuge as it spins. Scoops are placed inside the centrifuge to selectively separate the U238 and U235 isotopes.
Depending on the type of industrial requirement, either of the above kinds can be put to use in industry.