Emulsified oil and grease removed without chemical addition
Wastewater discharged from a seafood processing plant was too high in oil & grease (O&G), and mineral oil and grease. The pH was also frequently outside of the permitted range as well. Emulsification in the wastewater made the oils very difficult to remove. The plant was in a confined area, so the treatment system had to have the smallest "footprint" possible.
Conventional treatment, consisting of pH control followed by chemical coagulation and flocculation was considered but the plant management sought a simpler, easier to operate solution.
Engineering Resource, Inc. developed and designed a two-stage biological process to correct the O&G and pH without chemical addition. First, a natural fermentation process lowers the pH and breaks the oil-water emulsion so that most of the oil is removed by skimming. Then a sequencing batch reactor is used to further reduce the levels of O&G while returning the pH to the neutral range.
The resulting wastewater treatment system has the following advantages:
- Meets all treatment requirements
- Lower construction cost
- Less operator attention
- Smaller space requirement
- No chemicals added
- Consistent with long-range treatment objectives
Oil/Water Removal Experience
ERI engineers have extensive experience in the testing and design of systems for the removal of oils and greases of animal, vegetable and mineral origin from industrial wastewater. We have developed, designed and installed systems using all of the common removal technologies, and some that are not so common. This listing illustrates the diversity of our experience in reclaiming oily wastewater.
Contact Tony Sobkowicz (eri@gis.net) at our Winchester, MA, office to discuss your oily wastewater problem, or to get more information about any of our applications.
Source: Engineering Resource, Inc.