Breaking Endurance Records:
Multi-Belt Oil Skimmer still going strong after 22 years

Jose Ceballos is Supervisor of a Union Pacific Railroad Wastewater Treatment Plant that handles the waste stream from a large locomotive cleaning shop in the heart of Chicago. He is proud of the record of clean water the plant has achieved for more than 20 years. By local law, treated water can contain no more than 200 ppm (parts per million) of suspended solids, oils, hydrocarbons, etc. to be allowed to go back into the city system. The return stream is carefully and consistently tested daily for proper pH levels and ppm. Mr. Ceballos' test reports, which are kept and checked by the City of Chicago Water authority, have always been less than 10 ppm of all pollutants combined. The plant has had an Abanaki Multi-Belt, 4-Belt skimmer system mounted on the main concrete treatment tank since 1976.

Initially, a lot of experimentation was needed to get the oil skimmer working right, and Mr. Ceballos found that most

problems could be solved simply following the manufacturers instructions to the letter. Says Mr. Ceballos, "I didn't want to have to be always repairing the skimmer... I made the proper modifications to relieve strain on the oil skimmer in order to make the skimmer system work the way it was designed to with the least amount of maintenance..."

Mr. Ceballos says that the best feature of his original Multi-Belt Oil Skimmer was the material used in the manufacture of the belts. Because of the harsh and varied nature of the chemical makeup of the wastewater coming off the diesel locomotives, a high quality poly/rubber composition was used on the first belts. Also chosen for their "oleophillic" surface, that is, their affinity for picking up a heavy film of oil from the surface of the water, each belt is 8 inches wide, about 8 feet in length, and are the original belts. They have been in service every day since 1976 and have NEVER BEEN REPLACED.

They remove an average of 100 gallons per hour of oils, grease, diesel fuel, cleaners and sludge from 65-75,000 gallons of waste wash water per day. The wiper blades, made of oil-resistant material, remove the oil and channel it into a pumping system specially designed and installed to allow the oil skimmer to skim at its maximum volume without overflowing. The waste products ultimately go to an underground holding tank where further separation of oil (to be recycled), grease, water, and sludge for final disposal occurs. He lets "birds nests and beaver dams" build up around the wipers. Instead of constantly removing all the unsightly but harmless debris, Mr. Ceballos has discovered that it makes an excellent protective cushion for the wipers (also originals) and extends their working life. He has never replaced them either.

Abanaki found out about this impressive performance and maintenance record when Mr. Ceballos suggested to the UPRR management that they order another similar system - for a new wastewater treatment plant planned for another rail yard. At first, because he had not been in contact with Abanaki Corporation for years, (a result of not having to replace any parts other than the motor contact brushes) he thought the company might be no longer in business. Mr. Ceballos was happy to find that, although long since moved to a new location, the original manufacturer of his oil skimmer was very much alive and well in the same general location.

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Custom-Designed Belt Skimmer Meets Unique Needs of Large International Auto Maker

The Abanaki Model 8 Belt Skimmer

Wayne Kendle, senior engineer with Furmanite International Limited, a UK engineering services company, was called upon by a large Japanese auto maker with operations in Europe to solve a unique problem -retrieve automotive wax and reclaim water at the end of an extremely busy production line. Furmanite, one of the foremost providers of oil pollution equipment in the UK, turned to Abanaki Corporation, Oil Skimmer Division, of Chagrin Falls, OH, for a solution.

Abanaki responded with prompt and effective support, and discovered that the situation was unique indeed. At the end of the auto maker's two, 24-hour-a-day production lines (500 cars per eight hour shift), newly-made automobiles were being sprayed with a protective wax, which dripped into wash bay holding sumps and was retrieved by obsolete skimming equipment. The auto maker was sacrificing time and money at the hands of aging, labor-intensive equipment that offered poor removal rates. Abanaki

Infrared heaters located on the rear of the skimmer, overhead convex heaters and heated chutes were designed to soften the automotive wax. The hard, abrasive construction of the ceramic wiper blades offers more efficient removal rates.

The stainless steel belts are operated by a motor and pulley system, which keeps them in motion whenever the unit is activated. The design uses the difference in specific gravity and surface tension between oil and water to pick up wax, oil, grease and other hydrocarbon liquids as the belt passes through the wash water. The one inch belt can remove up to one gallon of wax per hour from the surface of the water. The two inch belt can remove up to two gallons or more of wax per hour. Each belt runs over a tail pulley connected to a stabilizer bar that is lowered into the wash water. After the belt passes over the drive pulley, it travels through tandem wiper blades where the wax is removed into a discharge channel. The wax then flows into a coolant saving Abanaki Oil Concentrator® where any residual water picked up with the wax is separated and sent back to the wash tank. The water-free wax is then discharged into a waste oil container.

The auto maker will continue to save costs well into the future since Abanaki builds reliability and low maintenance benefits, which allow for continuous unattended operation, into every belt skimmer they manufacture.

Kendle adds, "The success of this situation has proved that Abanaki can meet just about any specific, individual need with a customized, well-designed belt oil skimmer

SKIMMINGS is published by Abanaki Corporation, 17387 Munn Road, Chagrin Falls, OH 44023. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced or stored in any print or electronic data base/retrieval system without prior written permission of Abanaki Corporation. Direct editorial comments to Tom Hobson via fax at (440)543-7404 .

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