The wastewater pits in Steel Mills are a particularly harsh place for oil skimmers to operate. The heavy oils and greases that are typically found in the scale-pits can wear out an oil skimmer if the right skimmer and belt material is not being used.

Recently steel plant operator in Michigan contacted Abanaki about a problem they were having with the skimmers being used. This company uses a competitor's oil skimmer and said the belts were constantly breaking during operation. Additionally, due to the way the skimmers were built, it would take up to 48 hours to replace one belt. The maintenance and downtime was starting to take a toll on business. 

Our salesman, John, went to the customer's location to get a better assessment of the application and what environment the oil skimmers were being exposed to. After a test run, John determined that the company would benefit from running the Oil Grabber Model 8 oil skimmer in its steel mill pits. 

The Model 8 Oil Grabber is a dependable and effective means of removing oil from water and water-base solutions. It utilizes a continuous belt and wiper to remove up to 40 gallons of oil per hour from the fluid surface. The belt, operating on a motor and pulley system, runs through contaminated liquid to pick up oil from the surface. After traveling over the head pulley, the belt passes through tandem wiper blades where oil is scraped off both sides of the belt and discharged. The tail pulley has flanges which allow it to roll freely on the inside of the belt without becoming dislodged. It requires no bearings and does not need to be fastened to the tank. If turbulent conditions exist, an optional tether and cage assembly prevents the tail pulley from being dislodged. Additionally, the belts do not need to be replaced as often and when they do, replacement only takes 5 minutes to complete.

Since switching over to the Model 8, the steel mill in Michigan have expressed that production has been much more seamless and that the Abanaki skimmers are far more easier to handle.