Oil Skimmer Blog

Recently, a US automotive parts engineering facility contacted Abanaki Corporation about two issues it was having at its plant.

1. Wanting to reduce the high costs of constantly needing to replace its coolant due to oil contamination
2. Removing the oil from the wastewater recovery trenches.

The Tote-It machine center skimmer was the answer. The skimmer is well suited for parts washing and machining center applications. By removing surface oil from a wash tank, the parts will not be recontaminated as they are withdrawn. Furthermore, by removing tramp oil from a coolant tank, the company prevents excessive smoke and fumes that are caused by oil burning during cutting operations. The Tote-it also reduces bacteria growth in the tank, along with the resulting odor.

Once the facility utilized the Tote-It skimmer in both the cooling tanks and the recovery tanks, it was able to successfully remove the oil from the coolant and from the wastewater.Additionally, with the ability to clean the oil laden coolant, the facility was able to save a significant amount of money and time on coolant disposal costs.

Tramp oil is huge problem for machining centers.  It can affect the appearance of the finished part, lead to worker skin conditions and leave a haze of smoke in the shop creating an environmental hazard.  Many machining centers built today have limited access to the coolant sumps more than they used to.  This creates a dilemma: how do you remove oil from a coolant sump when you barely have access to it? A mini tube skimmer, like the Abanaki’s Tubetastic!®, may be the perfect solution for this problem. The Tubetastic! has an oleophilic tube that snakes into your machining center and removes the oil from the surface of your coolant.  It attaches to the side of the tank lip or it can enter through a slot in the side of the machine.   Furthermore, it has a high capacity to remove oil.  The Tubetastic! can remove as much as 1.5 gph of oil from the surface of cutting fluid, enough to handle virtually any tramp oil problem.

The TubeTastic! features a 50/60hz fan-cooled, continuous duty motor in either 110 or 220v and standard collector tubes allowing reaches of 8″, 12″, 18″ or 24″ with longer lengths available.

Sometimes there are situations where your oil skimmer will collect water. If you are running your skimmer 24/7 and the tank or pit runs out of oil, your skimmer will pick up whatever is remaing in the tank, and most of the time that will be water or coolant. There is a way to prevent this and that is by utilizing an oil water sperator/concentrator in conjuction with your oil skimmer. The oil water conentrator attaches to the skimmer and helps in further separating the water/coolant from your oil. This unit is placed on the back of the skimmer. The skimmed material is drained into the concentrator and then it separates the water from oil. You can then drain the water back into the tank or well through one hose, and the oil drains from another. So, next time you’re wondering how to increase the efficiency of your oil skimmer, take a look at the oil water concentrator to help solve your dilemma.

The Oil Concentrator is non-electrical and contains no moving parts — it simply receives liquid directly from the skimmer. Based on the principle of gravity separation, the Concentrator tank is sized so that there is adequate dwell time for the oil and water to separate. Water discharge is through a tube that has an open end near the bottom of the Concentrator, while oil flow is through a separate drain port near the top. As additional liquid enters the Concentrator, water and oil are
forced out through their respective discharge tubes and ports.

Recently, Abanaki launched its new, interactive oil skimmer selection guide. The newly designed guide provides a quick and easy way to match the appropriate skimmer for a wide variety of applications. The grid layout quickly will determine the appropriate size, belt material and oil removal capacity, with quick links that connect to more detailed performance specifications.

Abanaki has just released an animated demo for a product from the groundwater remediation equipment line. The video demonstrates the PetroXtractor Active Membrane Skimmer, which is a pneumatic active skimmer pump that is entirely automatic and is designed to recover light non aqueous phase liquids (LNAPL) from underground water at depths of up to 130 feet.

Choosing an oil skimmer best suited for your application will maximize oil removal while minimizing capital outlay and oil skimming operation costs. The second step in selecting an oil skimmer is to know what you need or expect your removal capacity to be. Capacity should be based on the maximum amount of oil to be removed within the shortest available time. For instance, total oil influx may be 200 gallons in a 24 hour period, which averages about 8.3 gallons per hour. But if most of it comes during a single eight hour plant shift, you will probably need a removal rate that is three times as high, especially if you are trying to prevent an unwanted discharge of contaminated water to a sewer system. As a rule-of-thumb, specify approximately twice the maximum capacity you anticipate needing for normal conditions.

Choosing an oil skimmer best suited for your application will maximize oil removal while minimizing capital outlay and oil skimming operation costs. The first step in choosing an oil skimmer is to define the operating conditions in which the skimmer will be operating. All oil skimmers have a moving medium, and possibly other parts, immersed in the liquid. The performance and life of the pick-up medium, wiper blades, pulleys, etc. are affected by different conditions. These conditions include temperatures in and out of the liquid, pH of the solution, and the presence of solvents or other reactive chemicals.