50% less oil and grease.
Over 200 L/h removed.
A chemical plant used an S100 to remove palm oil and fat from its wash water. With trace heating and discharge-pipe modifications, removal exceeded 200 L/h and the viscous floating layer was cleared within a short time. Wastewater oil-and-grease content was persistently reduced by 50%, bringing discharge values back within the treatment plant operator’s requirements.
Case background
The plant processes palm oil into intermediates for detergent production. Cleaning storage tanks and pipework generates wash water heavily contaminated with palm oil, palm fat and similar substances.
The wastewater collects in a pit approximately 1.8 m wide and 6.0 m long, with a height-adjustable inlet funnel spanning its full width. Operators previously adjusted the funnel manually and pushed the floating oil-and-fat mixture into it for pumping away.
The challenge
Unfavourable installation conditions meant that large quantities of water were often removed while the viscous oil-and-fat mixture was captured only incompletely. Wastewater quality no longer met the required limits, so the plant needed a more effective way to remove the floating layer.
The solution: FRIESS S100 oil skimmer
The water temperature was approximately 60 °C, yet the fat layer frequently hardened. When the skimmer was first commissioned, a layer about 10 cm thick was floating on the surface. Initially, the collector hose cleared only a track roughly 5 cm wide. Despite the large drain line, the combination of high skimmer capacity and poor fat flow caused rapid blockage. After trace heating was installed, discharge ran reliably at more than 200 L/h, and the floating layer was completely removed within a short time.
To increase throughput further, the gear ratio was changed from 40:1 to 25:1 and the drain line was routed almost vertically downward. The S100 now conveys the floating fat into a funnel-shaped collection tray, from which it flows through the steep pipe into the existing inlet funnel and is then pumped to the central waste-treatment system.
Results
Using the FRIESS S100 oil skimmer permanently halved the oil-and-grease content of the wastewater. The discharge values again complied with the wastewater treatment plant operator’s requirements. Following this successful operating experience, the plant installed skimmers at additional locations.
- Floating layer completely removed within a short time
- Oil-and-grease content in the wastewater permanently reduced by 50%
- Reliable removal capacity of more than 200 L/h
Struggling to remove palm oil and fat reliably from wash water?
Please share your wastewater-pit dimensions, liquid-level fluctuations, water temperature, pH, oil and fat types and concentrations, solid contaminants, treatment flow rate and discharge targets. Our China engineering team can recommend an S100 oil skimmer, floating collection tube and installation location suited to your site conditions.