Click here to receive the newly updated Oil Skimmer Belt Selection Guide. With this informational guide you will have access to diagrams of all of Abanaki’s oil skimmers and how to properly size a belt for each skimmer.

A common question we get from customers is “Do your oil skimmers have the ability to pick up gasoline? They seem to be mostly for heavier oils.” For many years, due to the available technology, belt skimmers were efficient with removal of reasonably heavy oils only. This is because belt skimmers work on the scientific principle of surface tension. The amount of product recovered was therefore dependent on two factors: viscosity of the product and surface area of the belt. Some equipment manufacturers would speed up the belt hoping to recover more, but this led to emulsification and less efficient coating of the belt.

Abanaki has developed a belt specifically for light fuel oils such as gasoline and diesel. We call it our LFO Polymer belt and recovery rates are astounding. A 1" belt can remove 3 gph, a 2" belt 6 gph and a 4" belt 12 gph of fresh-from-the-pump gasoline! As the viscosity increases the removal rates increase as well. What we have done is to develop a belt with incredible surface area while only increasing the profile slightly.

Use of Abanaki's Oil Concentrator is strongly recommended while utilizing the LFO Polymer belt for recovery to ensure practically water free removal. If you have further questions, feel free to contact one of our technical support representatives at the factory.

If you have questions on whether or not your oil will pick up, you can request Abanaki’s belt oil skimmer test kit. The kit includes samples of all of Abanaki’s belt materials. Receive your test kit today by clicking the photo below.