Key Benefits of Installing Oil Water Separators in Your Facility
Many different facilities generate wastewater that contains oil. Oil water separators help ensure this oil doesn’t clog sewer treatment plants or enter natural waterways. Local water authorities frequently conduct inspections and charge fines for excessive oil content in trade waste. Installing an air compressor oil separator prevents fines and allows you to comply with water authority regulations.
Reducing Wastewater Treatment Costs
As well as reducing the volume of waste to be disposed of, the proper use and care of an oil water separator can also help cut down on your wastewater treatment costs. Effective oil removal from your wastewater system can improve the performance of downstream systems, such as filtration and chemical treatment. The best way to keep your oil water separator performing at its best is to follow the correct maintenance guidelines.
It includes checking silt traps and collection pits regularly, ensuring that the accumulating sludge in the separator container is not too high (this can interfere with the separation process), and periodically inspecting and cleaning media packs and removing and disposing of the accumulated waste oil from the oil water separator’s collection tank.
Good oil water separators North Carolina should handle various operating conditions, including peak flow rates. Failure to do so could result in an excursion that causes oil to carry through into the wastewater discharge, leading to fines and even a shutdown of business until the oil content is back within compliance limits.
Keeping the Environment Clean
While reducing your energy consumption, buying environmentally friendly products, and recycling are excellent ways to keep the environment clean, you can also do your part at the facility level by installing an oil separator. This device is the key to complying with environmental regulations and avoiding fines.
An oil separator uses gravity to remove oils from wastewater by using the natural phenomenon that water and oil have different densities. The heavier oil droplets float on the wastewater while the cleaner, non-oil substance falls to the bottom and collects in a collection pit.
An oil-water separator is vital to your facility’s wastewater treatment system because it prevents contaminants from being discharged into the environment. It protects natural ecosystems and allows them to flourish.
Likewise, it protects public health by preventing oil-contaminated sewage from being released into public waterways. It can cause respiratory problems for those who consume the contaminated water and even kill wildlife.
Removing Oil from Wastewater
If you’ve ever seen a television news report on oil spills, you know oil can be dangerous to the environment. While these are often catastrophic, small amounts of oil in wastewater can also cause problems – like clogging pipes and disrupting ecological systems.
In addition to removing oil from wastewater, oil water separators help you meet regulatory requirements. The EPA requires that no more than 50 parts per million (ppm) of oil be present in the condensate from compressed air systems. Your facility can be fined for violating EPA regulations without an oil-water separator.
Oil water separators work by using the buoyancy of oil to force it up to a surface where it can be trapped. To maximize the effectiveness of an OWS, your piping and collection pit should be properly sized. It would help if you also cleaned your oil collection container and media pack monthly to quarterly. If you don’t, the oil can float to other parts of your facility, which could be released into the environment.
Increasing Revenue
Because oil and water don’t mix, keeping compressed air condensate clean before it reaches groundwater is crucial. Keeping oil in the separator allows more condensate to be purified before it reaches the ground, reducing your environmental impact and helping you meet regulatory standards and avoid fines.
The demand for effective pollution control solutions is increasing as the world faces water shortages and increasingly stringent environmental regulations. It has helped fuel the growth of the global oil-water separator market.
When selecting a separator, ask for an objective oil droplet size performance curve. You can get these from most separator manufacturers, and they should be able to demonstrate the accuracy of the curve through independent testing.
If not, achieving the desired discharge level for your facility may be easier, leading to ineffective removal of pollutants or even a business shutdown due to off-spec wastewater. After separation, use a quality oil skimmer to remove residual oil from the water’s surface before discharging.
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