10 Typical Applications of an Oil Skimmer

1. Sewage treatment:

In a sewage treatment plant, there is almost always a presence of Oil and grease.

This oil is difficult to handle in primary treatment as it would require an immense amount of coagulants to handle this oil with large OPEx. This would also not be good for the bacteria in the secondary treatment process and deadly for membrane systems in the tertiary treatment process. Oil Skimmers in an equalization tank, with reduced agitation will be able to remove the lion's share of oil from such sewage.

Value: Elongation of life of membrane systems, proper maintenance of MLSS in secondary treatment and reduced use of coagulants in primary treatment. Skimmer pays for itself within months of installation.

2. Machine/Automotive/Locomotive shops:

All machining requires oil, grease and coolant, all of which are expensive. After machining, the coolant-oil mixture is collected in a tank, where oil floats to the surface and can be removed with oil skimmers.

Value: User saves on coolant and oil purchase. Skimmer pays for itself within months of installation.

3. Oil and Gas Refinery - Process:

These are places which deal exclusively with Hydrocarbons in tons. The refining process by itself generates hydrocarbon oils of different viscosity. Separation between oils of different viscosity is possible with the help of oil skimmers whose oil-touching materials are treated to be sensitive to specific viscosity ranges.

Value: Separation of two grades of hydrocarbons in large scale is achieved economically. Skimmer pays for itself within weeks of installation.

4. Oil and Gas Refinery - Effluent:

Effluents from refineries have huge quantities of hydrocarbons in their wastewater making it impossible to do secondary and tertiary treatment without the separation of majority of Hydrocarbons using skimmers. The recovered oil/hydrocarbon is fed back to the crude oil tank for further reprocessing.

Value: User avoids expensive oil handling in effluent, also oil recovered contributes to product which translates to more revenue for the user. Oil skimmers are a friendly double edged sword in this case and skimmers pay for themselves within weeks of installation.

5. Solvent Recovery:

Certain chemical companies manufacturing solvents or companies using expensive solvents are mostly unable to reuse these solvents since it has oil mixed and floating. In such cases, disposal of these solvents can cost upwards of $500 per barrel. This is where multiple oil skimmers will reduce oil disposal and encourage reuse.

Value: User avoids expensive disposals. Oil Skimmer can pay for itself within a day

6. Odor removal:

Some oils give out really foul odor. Allowing this oil to stay in the process liquid or effluent lets the odor pervade across the whole of the liquid. Oil skimmers are able to remove these oils to a very substantial extent leaving only minimal trace contents of oil behind.

Value: Saves the user the cost of odor treatment. Skimmer pays for itself within a few weeks

7. Oil for Money:

Certain oils are used as raw materials in soap, animal and fish feed. Your company's waste oil can be a valuable resource to companies manufacturing the above. Former saves on cost of treatment, latter finds a cheaper source of raw material.

Value: User saves on oil disposal. Skimmer pays for itself within a few months.

8. Pipe Clogging:

Pipes used to transport process liquid or effluent can clog due to tramp oil or sludge developed due to the presence of oil. Pipe clogging can be avoided if the majority of oil is removed using oil skimmers

Value: Expensive shut downs due to pipe clogging can be avoided.

9. Oil Spill in Oceans and Water Bodies:

Most of the world's crude oil is transported across the sea via ships. Whenever there is a breach in the hull of the ship or an accident aboard, the ship leaks oil on the water's surface. This can be near the coast or deep into the ocean. In such cases, floating drum, weir and funnel skimmers are used to remove the oil from the surface.

Value: Marine life is less affected by oil spills. Oil Skimmers here are priceless. Many oil skimmer manufacturers including our own, Vens Hydroluft offer these skimmers for free to treat major spills.

10. Zero Liquid Discharge

Water that is polluted with oil cannot be reused as process water in most industries. When oil is removed from this water, along with other treatment steps water can be recycled and reused thereby instituting Zero Liquid Discharge or ZLD. This has become compulsory in advanced states of India like Tamilnadu and Gujarat.

Value: The oil skimmers here are as valuable as water in the area of use.

For more information you can always visit www.skimmer.co.in

Thanks for reading from Vens Hydroluft!

About Us

Founded in 1997, Vens Hydroluft is run by a group of filtration engineers from Indian Institute of technology, Madras and Stanford University

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At Vens Hydroluft, our engineers take pride in over 25 years of experience in filtration and separation with which we have specialized in manufacture of a wide range of OIL SKIMMERS to suit the demands of different applications of Oil separation / removal in various Industry segments.

Vens Hydroluft takes pride in over 5000 installations  in a variety of industries (Oil refineries, Automobile, Textile, Hotel, Water Treatment… ) both in India & Abroad.