Food Industry

Simple Way to Reduce Costs and Increase Profit

Packaged-food producers frequently use and then must discard large batches of cooking oil used in their process. Usually they drain most of the oil directly from equipment, but they must remove residual oil by regularly washing fryers, ovens, conveyors, and other machinery.

The oil mixes with the wash water and becomes part of the plants wastewater stream. Having oil in wastewater complicates the wastewater-treatment process by making it more expensive, more time-consuming, and less effective. Additionally. as with other manufacturers, packaged-food producers want to reduce waste and decrease the environmental impact of operations. That is why removing used oil and solids from wastewater before it is discharged is a priority.

One such food producer is Brakebush Brothers, a family owned manufacturer of frozen, cooked chicken products that has been operating in Westfield, WI, since 1925. Recently, Brakebush Brothers upgraded parts of its wastewater treatment system to accommodate increased production, and, in the process, discovered an immediate-impact, low-cost way to recover used cooking oil from wastewater.

Brakebush Brothers’ plant runs 24 hours a day on three shifts — two for production and one for cleaning. The company uses cooking oil during processing. After processing and cleaning, an oil/wastewater mix collects at two lift stations, and then is piped to an on-site wastewater treatment facility. The wastewater passes through a dissolved air filtration (DAF) system. Sludge removed during filtration is sent through a belt press to remove even more water, and the resulting solid waste is hauled away.

PROBLEM: Large slugs of oil were “causing chaos” in Brakebush Brothers’ wastewater treatment system.

Wastewater treatment plant operators would add additional alum to treat the oil slugs, but adding more alum caused more sludge. Also, the oil would clog up the system, especially the porous belt-press material, reducing efficiency and requiring additional maintenance. The operators tried to combat this by adding lime to the belt-press process increasing cost to the wastewater treatment plant.

When the increased production compounded the oil-induced complications, Charlie Parrish from Water Tech (chemical supplier) advised Brakebush to remove the oil from the wastewater before it entered the lift stations, thus eliminating the need for additional chemicals and maintenance. He suggested using an oil skimmer, a solution he has been recommending to clients for 30 years because “they are almost ridiculously simple, and ridiculously cost effective.”

SOLUTION: Brakebush Brothers turned to Cleveland-based Oil Skimmers Inc. and their Wisconsin representative, Recovery Equipment Corporation, resulting in the initial purchase of two Model 6V Brill™ oil-recovery systems to remove oil from water before entering each lift station. Today, each skimmer removes 1,392 lbs of oil daily from the wastewater stream. The solution has worked so well that the company is adding additional skimmers, said Bucky Walters, wastewater operator.

BENEFITS: The Model 6Vs have enabled Brakebush Brothers to:

• Eliminate the need for additional chemicals used to specifically treat the effects of oil in wastewater.
• Reduce the volume of solid waste removed from wastewater.
• Create a new revenue stream by selling its used cooking oil to a bio fuel producer.
• Become a more environmentally responsible company that recycles used cooking oils and solids.

Oil Skimmers’ Model 6V utilizes a unique floating-tube system. The closed-loop tube — made of flexible, specially formulated plastic — attracts oil but not water. The unit continuously draws the oil-covered tube through scrapers (which remove the oil) and returns the clean tube to the water surface to gather more oil.

At Brakebush Brothers, the recovered oil is pumped into a 5,000-gallon tanker and is sold to Sanimax, an international company that manufacturers biodiesel from used cooking oil. The solid waste is sent to United Grease Inc., where it feeds an anaerobic digester that generates electricity for sale to other consumers.

Oil Recovery Reduces Sewer Cleaning

Doskocil Food Service Company, a division of Foodbrands America, Hutchinson, Kan., produces 2 million pounds of pizza toppings a week. After cooking, the meat toppings are flash-frozen in one of two spiral freezers. Air currents within the freezer carry grease-containing vapors through the ammonia freezer coils, where they adhere and become lodged.

Doskocil uses 1,600 gallons of water per hour to defrost the coils. Each defrost cycle carries about 50 lbs. of grease with the water, causing an overloaded and clogged DAF (Dissolved Air Floatation) system. This was becoming a maintenance problem for the company.

Searching for a simple yet cost-effective solution, the company installed a Model 5H oil skimmer from Oil Skimmers Inc. Now the defrost water collects in a discharge reservoir, where oil separates and floats to the top, and then the Model 5H begins its job. A specially formulated polyurethane closed-loop collector tube is drawn across the surface of the grease-laden water. Oil adheres to the outside of the tube, is lifted up and out of the reservoir, then drawn through scrappers that remove the oil. Recovered oil collects in an attached container and the cleaned tube simply and continually repeats the process.

“We used to have to clean our sewer lines every month,” says Bill Hackett, maintenance engineer. “Now, we only have to do this every three months. Also, there are no shutdowns due to drain backups, and we have increased the quality of our effluent.”

Doskocil has realized an added bonus as well. It generates income by selling the recovered grease to a byproducts company. According to Hackett, the skimmer collects about 800 lbs. of grease per day; the sale of grease to the byproducts company more than paid for the cost of the unit within the first month of use.

Oil Skimmers Inc. Units Recover $6,000 of Waste Oil Per Year

Oil Skimmers Inc. units continuously draw the oil-covered tubing up and out of the water, through the scrapers mechanism, and return the clean tubing to the water surface to gather more oil. The collected oils travel down a boom into an underground tank.

Two Model 6V Brill™ floating collector tube skimming units are recovering $6000 worth of waste oil/year (144,000 lbs.) that previously had been discharged into the municipal sewage system. Eastern Foods, Inc., Atlanta, GA, processes a variety of products primarily for the foodservice industry – including salad dressings, tartar sauce, pancake syrup, cole slaw, and waffle batter.

The plant uses 50,000 gallons of water/day for processing and cleanup operations. Their wastewater treatment consists of a 15-by-60-foot concrete pit, a chemical treatment system to remove suspended solids and other pollutants, and two aeration basins – currently being installed to lower BOD levels

The oil-recovery units utilize a floating tube collection system. The closed-loop tubing is constructed of polyurethane – which attracts oil, but not water. As the tubing slowly moves through the floating wastes in the pit, the oils adhere to it. The automatic skimming units continuously draw the oil-covered tubing up and out of the water, through the scraper mechanism, and return the clean tubing to the water surface to gather more oil. The closed-loop tubing has a circumference of 23 feet in this application, with 6-8 feet of tubing floating on the surface for increased pickup.

The collected oils travel down a boom into an underground tank. The boom – which extends out about 8′ from the pit’s edge – can be maneuvered from side-to-side for maximum collection. In addition, the skimming units have been equipped with a heating element to keep the oil flowing in cold weather. From the underground tank, the collected oils are pumped to an above ground tank – where solar heating separates the lighter oils from the heavier ones. These lighter oils are then sold to an oil reclamation plant – earning Eastern Food approximately $6,000/year.

Oil Skimmers, Inc. Helps a Growing Snack Food Manufacturer Reduce Wastewater Treatment Costs and Go Green in the Process

A privately held snack-food manufacturer in the Midwest expected to increase production of potato chips by 20%, to about 72 million pounds a year. While more potato chips would mean more profits, it also would mean more oil-laden wastewater from washing the potatoes and the fryers used to cook them.

PROBLEM: When operators clean the fryers used to make the chips, oil mixes with the wash water. This wastewater is discharged into the municipal water-treatment system. The potato-chip plant is in a small village, and is one of the municipality’s largest water consumers, discharging an average of 180,000 gallons a day. The company wanted to install a Model 6V Brill™ oil-recovery system to reduce the amount of oil in its wastewater and improve the efficiency of its water treatment equipment.

A challenge was that the plant’s 4-foot-diameter wastewater pool is in a cramped area crowded with pipes and other equipment. This limited the space available for adding new equipment.

SOLUTION: Cleveland-based Oil Skimmers Inc. modified its standard Cart Mount System to fit into the tight space and installed a Model 6V oil skimmer.

“We can build something to do whatever is required for the customer in their application. In this case, we built a system for them that they were able to incorporate in a very small, confined area,” said Rob Fiorilli, Eastern Region Sales Manager for Oil Skimmers Inc.

Jim Petrucci, Oil Skimmer’s Vice President, said because the company uses factory trained representatives, such specialization is possible. “You aren’t picking out something from a catalogue. We can adapt, modify, or even build from scratch.”

In a unique anti-clogging design, the Model 6V has a polyurethane tube that attracts and collects the waste oil as it floats on top of wastewater. The tube passes through a scraper system to remove the oil, which flows by gravity into a containment drum.

BENEFITS: Since it was installed, the Model 6V has been removing about 2,000 gallons of oil a week from the wastewater system, bringing many benefits to the company, including:

• Cost: The wastewater requires less treatment before it enters the municipal system, reducing the amount of energy, labor and chemicals needed. Also, hauling costs for sludge removed from the water have fallen 30% because the wastewater treatment produces less sludge
• Improved asset performance: The plant’s dissolved air floatation system is working more efficiently. “The filter press performance has increased, requiring less operator time cleaning the press,” said the company’s wastewater treatment facilitator. Additionally, loading on bioreactors where the water is treated has been greatly reduced, improving efficiency.
• Decreased material waste: The manufacturer has found a market for the discarded oil in companies that make bio-fuels, thereby keeping about 8,000 gallons of discarded oil out of landfills each month. The underground tank to which the Model 6V discharges oil is pumped out once a week.

The snack-food company has been so pleased with the results of the Model 6V that it is considering adding two more machines to other parts of the plant.

“We would recommend that anyone experiencing oil issues consider an oil skimmer from Oil Skimmers Inc.,” the company’s wastewater treatment facilitator said. “For a relatively small investment, our operations have been improved dramatically.”

The Model 6V operates independently and, if needed, can run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Its internal components are made of high-strength steel and bronze for durability. External parts are made from abrasive-resistant ceramic. The machine has a lifespan of more than 30 years.

How Food Producers can Reduce Costs and Increase Efficiency in their Wastewater Treatment System

A White Paper for the Packaged Food Industry

Foremost in many companies’ capital-investment strategies these days is achieving fast return on investment (ROI). This especially is true in packaged foods, an industry adjusting to higher commodity prices and increased price sensitivity. At the same time, consumers are pressuring packaged-foods manufacturers to make their processes more environmentally friendly, or “green.”

Producers that can meet both of these challenges will have a competitive advantage in a market that analysts expect to be under increased stress in the short term. Moody’s Investors Service warned in February 2009 of a worsening outlook for U.S. food producers in the next 12 to 18 months.¹

“Most food producers have significant fixed costs; hence, a drop in sales volume is likely to hurt profitability and cash flow. In addition, the tight credit markets intensify problems for lower-rated packaged-food companies and especially for meat producers.”

This white paper examines how smart food producers are investing in equipment that lowers costs while enabling the manufacture of high-quality products through efficient processes. Specifically, we will examine equipment known as oil skimmers that separate oil from other fluids (usually separating used cooking oil from wastewater for food producers). We will list the various ways companies remove used oil from wastewater and document how two Midwest packaged-food manufacturers have used continuous-tube oil skimmers to reduce costs for energy, waste treatment, waste removal, machine maintenance, and regulatory fees. They also have improved their images as green producers and found new potential revenue streams in the resale of used oil. Both report that their continuous-tube oil skimmers solutions achieved substantial ROI quickly and easily.

Smart Capital Investment

Foodprocessing.com research revealed that 97% of interviewed companies are worried about energy costs. In the prior year’s survey, 90% said they were worried.² This reflects concerns within the entire manufacturing sector, which is the largest consumer of energy in the United States. Uncertainty in energy supply will continue to drive up costs.

One way companies can offset rising energy bills is by investing in equipment that makes processes more efficient, such as oil skimmers. According to the IndustryWeek/Manufacturing Performance Group 2007 Census of Manufacturers, more than 70% of surveyed manufacturers said they were able to improve financial performance through the application of new capital equipment.

Capital Equipment Investments and Financial Performance

How has application of new capital equipment affected plant performance (i.e., profitability)?

• Major Increase 10%
• Some Increase 62%
• No Change 24%
• Some Decrease 4%
• Major Decrease 1%

Source: IndustryWeek/Manufacturing Performance Group 2007 Census of Manufacturers³

The key to improving financial performance through capital equipment purchases is to invest in well-made, market-tested machinery that will address problems immediately, and continue to address them in the future without further investment.

The Challenge

One such problem that exists for many food producers is the presence of oil in wastewater. With the increase demand for prepared and snack foods, companies have increased their production thus putting additional strain on their wastewater treatment system. Large quantities of oil are used in the preparation of a wide variety of food products such as salad dressings, chicken or potato chips. A majority of the spent oil is drained from the cooking “pots” and recycled, but a surprising amount remains behind and is flushed out during the cleaning process. This oil becomes part of the wastewater stream and a challenge for most food producers. The presence of vegetable oil and /or animal fats lead to greater use of treatment chemicals thus additional costs. The life of filter media and it’s efficiency is reduced. The amount of sludge requiring disposal increases, and labor costs associated with the treatment increases. Municipal surcharges may be imposed and a valuable commodity is lost. Thus, it is most essential that this oil be separated and removed.

Removal Methods

Food manufacturers traditionally have used a variety of methods to remove used oil from wastewater. These include:

• Displacement: Operators raise the water level in order to overflow the oil that rests on top. This method rarely separates the oil and water fully, so oil remains in the tank, and the displaced oil contains water, which lowers or eliminates its resale value.
• Floating Pump: A pump sucks the oil off of the top of the water. This, too, is an inefficient method in terms of clean separation of oil and water, because a large amount of water remains in the removed oil. Also, it requires hands-on maintenance, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Alternative methods such as continuous- tube skimmers can safely operate independently.
• Absorbent Padding: Pads made from oil-absorbing materials are cast upon the mixture in an attempt to soak up the oil. This method often is used for oil-spill incidents, but it does not make sense as an ongoing, procedural solution for a business because it is expensive and labor-intensive.
• Removal Services: Third-party technicians pump out the oil and remove it from the customer’s site. This can be expensive and inefficient, as it requires someone to take time to set up a service. Also, allowing oil to build up, degrades the quality of the oil and increases chances for the oil to escape.
• Oil Skimmers: Equipment removes oil by cyclically introducing an oil-attracting surface into the mixed oil and water and then cleaning the oil off the surface before it is reintroduced. The oil collects in a separate repository as it is removed. The oil-adhering surface can be made from a variety of materials and be introduced using a variety of methods. Oil skimmers can use floating drums, belts, mops, discs, or tubes.

Oil skimmers achieve fast ROI, because they can be a low-impact capital investment in terms of cost, space, and time. Compact skimmers sell for under $10,000, are quickly and easily installed, and have an immediate impact.

Reselling Waste, Saving Landfill Space

Brakebush Brothers, a family-owned manufacturer of frozen, cooked chicken products that has been operating in Westfield, Wis., since 1925, recently upgraded parts of its wastewater treatment system to accommodate increased production and, in the process, installed two continuous-tube oil skimmers. The recovered oil is pumped into a 5,000-gallon tanker and is sold to Sanimax, an international company that manufactures biodiesel from used cooking oil. (The solid waste is sent to a dairy farm, where it feeds an anaerobic digester that generates electricity for the farm and for sale to other consumers.)

Another company in Ohio – a snack-food manufacturer – also sells its skimmed oil to biofuel producers, thereby keeping about 8,000 gallons of discarded oil out of landfills each month. The underground tank in which the skimmer discharges oil is pumped out once a week.

At Brakebush Brothers, the skimmers have eliminated the need for additional chemicals used to specifically treat the effects of oil in wastewater and have lowered the volume of solid waste removed from wastewater. Prior to installing the oil skimmers, large slugs of oil would form in the wastewater, reducing efficiency and clogging the belt filter press. Managers added alum and lime to treat the slugs. Today, each skimmer removes 1,392 pounds of oil daily from the wastewater stream, and the slugs don’t form. The solution has worked so well that the company is adding additional skimmers, said Bucky Walters, wastewater operator.

The Ohio snack-food manufacturer also reduced chemical treatment costs and improved water-treatment efficiency with a continuous-tube oil skimmer. The skimmer removes 2,000 gallons of oil a week from water discarded after it is used for processing and equipment cleaning. “The filter press performance has increased, requiring less operator time cleaning the press,” said the company’s wastewater treatment facilitator. Additionally, loading on bioreactors where the water is treated has been greatly reduced, improving efficiency. Also, hauling costs for sludge removed from the water have fallen 30% because the wastewater treatment produces less sludge, and the sludge cakes that are produced have a lower moisture content.

New Sources of Energy

The biodiesel industry could become a significant market for used cooking oil in the next decade. Biodiesel is considered an “alternative fuel” and can be used in existing diesel engines without modification. An increasing number of fleet managers and industrial consumers are using it. According to the National Biodiesel Board, 700 million gallons of biodiesel were produced in the United States in 2008, up from 500,000 gallons in 1999.³ Biodiesel is also listed as a renewable fuel in the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which requires the amount of renewable fuel sold to consumers to increase each year through 2012.⁴

In addition to new revenue streams, resale of waste oil positions companies as good community citizens because they are helping to keep public water systems cleaner and are keeping waste out of landfills. (Depending upon local disposal fees and surcharges, companies can also save on waste-processing impact fees.) A wealth of research shows that consumers prefer to buy products from environmentally responsible companies, and food manufacturers know they must respond. In its annual survey of food-processing companies, Foodprocessing.com found that the number of processors stating that they are “very” or “extremely” concerned about the environment went up more than 5% to 70%.⁵

Conclusion

For a variety of reasons – as documented in the previous case studies – a continuous-tube skimmer is the best selection for prepackaged food companies. Users report very low maintenance and parts-replacement costs, and the skimmers last as long as 30 years. They are also compact and can run as needed, such as during a production shift, or can run continuously. The only action an operator needs to take is to turn the machine on or off.

Additionally, they can be installed without disruption to treatment systems. They can even be customized to fit awkward spaces, as in the case of the Ohio snack-food producer, which has a four-foot diameter retention pond in an area cramped with pipes and other equipment.

Charlie Parrish, a water-treatment specialist who works with Brakebush Brothers, said he has been recommending oil skimmers to clients for 30 years and will continue to do so. Says Parrish: “As far as machinery, they are ridiculously simple and ridiculously cost effective.”

1. “Moody’s Sees Food Industry’s Negative Outlook Getting Worse,” http://seekingalpha.com, Feb. 3, 2009.
2. “2009 Manufacturing Trends Survey: Economy Ahead, Proceed with Caution!” David Feder, Foodprocessing.com,www.foodprocessing.com
3. National Biodiesel Board, www.biodiesel.org
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov/otaq/renewablefuels/420f07062.htm
5. “2009 Manufacturing Trends Survey: Economy Ahead, Proceed with Caution!” David Feder, Foodprocessing.com, www.foodprocessing.com

Oil Skimmer Model 6V Removes Fat from Wastewater

PROBLEM: The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources has issued Orders that set new stringent discharge standards.

College Hill Poultry, Inc. in Fredericksburg , Pa. , processes 25,000 birds a day. Operators use water for scalding, product preparation, cooling whole birds and parts, offal rendering, and sanitation.

The 55,000-gpd wastewater contains significant amounts of soluble and suspended organic matter. In the past, wastewater was treated to meet secondary treatment standards by use of an aerated lagoon treatment system.

To meet new effluent requirements, an engineering firm was contracted to study the problem. Upon their recommendations, the poultry processor initiated a water-conservation program based on the theory that water conserved is water that does not require treatment. The water conservation program resulted in an increase in pollutant concentrations; however, the reduction in water usage produced a decrease in total pounds of matter entering the effluent. With water usage at the lowest allowable by USDA, efforts were next directed at finding ways to treat the spent process water with regard to state and federal environmental regulations, and capital, operating, maintenance, and energy costs.

SOLUTION: College Hill installed a pretreatment system consisting of a rotating mechanical screen and a Model 6V oil skimmer from Oil Skimmers Inc. for byproducts recovery. With a unique anti-clogging design, the 6V oil skimmer has a polyurethane tube that attracts and collects the waste oil as it floats on top of wastewater. The tube passes through a scraper system to remove the oil, which flows by gravity into a containment drum. They also installed a flocculation tank, and a dissolved-air flotation (DAF) tank; and a secondary treatment system employing a West-German design, counter-current low-load aeration process to organically polish and nitrify the effluent before discharging into the receiving stream.

Pretreatment

First step in the pretreatment process is screening to remove gross solids. The velocity of the flowing waste water through the rotating wire-wedge screen drum forcefully holds the solids against the screen. The trapped solids ride over the top of the screen as the drum revolves. Larger/heavier solids fall freely as they start their downward path, while smaller solids are removed by a doctor blade that rides in contact with the drum. All screenings recovered are collected in a small hopper, which is connected to a dry-offal, vacuum-transport conveyor system. The conveyor moves the screenings to the rendering building, where they are processed for use as a proteinaceous animal feed.

Located beneath the rotating mechanical screen is a small-volume wet well used to equalize the flow into the hydraulically sensitive DAF unit. A continuous-loop Model 6V oil skimmer automatically collects and removes around 100 gallons of oil per hour of floating grease from the wastewater contained in the wet well. Skimmed grease is collected for rendering in the same hopper used to collect and transport the screenings.

To enhance flocculation, a coagulant is added, followed by a pH adjustment to promote floc formation in the mechanical flocculator. Good rapid mixing of these chemicals is of the utmost importance to system performance. After 10 minutes of gentle agitation to enhance flocculation of minute grease globules and other coagulated particles, the flocculated wastewater continues its flow by gravity to the head of the DAF tank. Here, it is mixed with a portion of the DAF unit’s effluent, which has been pressurized to about 60-70 psig and aerated. When this recycled flow is depressurized to atmospheric pressure, fine air bubbles are formed.

As the combined flow enters the DAF tank, the fine air bubbles adhere to the flocculated particles – increasing their buoyancy and causing them to separate from the wastewater. The partially treated wastewater discharges over a weir and onto the secondary treatment system. Flocculated particles form a sludge blanket (float) on the surface of the water. Sludge is automatically skimmed off and transported to a hopper. A sludge pumping system moves that float from the hopper to an anaerobic sludge holding tank. The pretreatment system has reduced BOD 80%, SS and phosphate 90%, and Ammonia-Nitrogen 30%.

Secondary Treatment

The secondary treatment system – countercurrent low-load aeration process – consists of a circular tank having an outer ring for aeration, and inner-circular tank for final clarification. The treatment system is equipped with blowers, rotating bridge with fine-diffused aerators, sludge-thickening pit, and return-sludge station.

After pretreatment, the wastewater enters the outer-ring aeration tank, where it comes in contact with the flocculated activated sludge. Here, it is aerated and agitated until the total organic pollution has been aerobically decomposed by microorganisms in the presence of oxygen.

The countercurrent low-load aeration process utilizes the principle of diffused aeration in horizontally moving streams. In vertical or conventional diffused-air systems, the ascending air bubbles rise to approximately the same place – creating a vertical updraft of the water towards the surface. Since the air bubbles rise quickly, detention time is short. Consequently, oxygen transfer rates are low.

With a horizontal current, the air bubbles are deflected by the laterally moving liquid – causing them to ascend slowly over a diagonal path to the surface. This longer detention time permits a greater oxygen transfer between the air and wastewater.

After sufficient aeration, the mixed liquor-activated sludge flows through a pipe into the clarifier tank. Sludge settles to the bottom of the tank, while the purified effluent passes the overflow weir, is chlorinated, and leaves the system.

The settled sludge in the clarifier tank is transferred to the return sludge station via a screw pump. Approximately 90% of the activated sludge is returned to the system, with the remainder being wasted to the sludge thickening pit; where it is allowed to decant for further thickening. From the pit, the sludge is pumped to storage tanks. Periodically, the sludge is hauled away in tank trucks and spread on agricultural land.

RESULTS: The pretreatment and secondary treatment system at College Hill Poultry have cut BOD 99.7%, SS 98.7%, Ammonia-Nitrogen 97.3%, and phosphate 95.1% bringing the company into compliance with the state’s stringent discharge standards. In addition, the grease and oil loads in the effluent have been reduced to 4.6 mg/l.

The unique equipment/treatment combination is recovering valuable byproducts for rendering, and is oxidizing the remaining organic pollutants into a totally stabilized sludge with a nearly complete nitrified effluent.

Oil Skimmers Solutions Guide: Slaughterhouse Industry

Easy-To-Use, Long-Lasting Oil Skimmers Effectively Remove Fats, Oils from Water

For more than 20 years, J.W. Treuth & Sons Inc., a kosher slaughterhouse based in Baltimore County, MD, has used a Model 5H from Oil Skimmers Inc. to remove fats, oil and grease (FOG) from kill-floor wastewater. The company recently purchased a new skimmer to replace the original, which, according to Vernon Treuth Sr., he purchased to correct FOG violations — the amounts of fats, oil and grease in to-be-disposed-of wastewater were above state-set limits.

Problem

As a kosher slaughterhouse, J.W. Treuth & Sons uses 25,000 gallons of water to butcher up to 100 cattle a day under kosher standards, which include precise methods for slaughter and processing. Much of the water is used for cleaning of the animal carcass, and cleaning and sterilization of equipment, tools, walls, floor and other materials that are part of the kill floor.

Fats are a naturally abundant by-product of the ritualized slaughter, but if left in wastewater, they can cause contamination of public sewer systems. Mr. Treuth said he started looking for a way to reduce the FOG in kill-floor run-off after receiving three letters of violation from the state. At that time, he was using a settling tank with a hydro-sieve to remove FOGs; however, this was an inefficient method.

Solution

Cleveland-based Oil Skimmers Inc.’s Model 5H Oil Skimmer was an affordable and long-lasting solution for lowering FOG concentrations in the slaughterhouse wastewater. Mr. Treuth said his third-generation, family-owned business has been in compliance since installing the Model 5H, and has not received any non-compliance letters.

Benefits

The Model 5H Oil Skimmer uses a unique floating-tube system. The closed-loop tube — made of flexible, specially formulated plastic — attracts oil but not water. The unit continuously draws the oil-covered tube through scrapers (which remove the oil) and returns the clean tube to the water surface to gather more oil.

For slaughterhouse operations, the Model 5H provides a low-maintenance solution that can run continuously or be easily turned off and on as needed. It is also compact, can be customized (mounting, location, etc.) and can start working immediately upon installation.

Getting Ready for Growth

For all slaughtering operations, now is a good time to invest in valuable equipment such as a Model 5H Oil Skimmer. The industry is expected to grow into 2020, due to increased demand for exports of beef, pork and poultry, according to U.S. government projections.

“The projected rise in U.S. meat and poultry exports over the next decade reflects the resumption of global economic growth, a depreciation of the U.S. dollar, and continued foreign demand for selected cuts and parts from the large U.S. market,” according to an analysis from the USDA.

For larger and/or non-kosher operations, Oil Skimmer systems are just as effective and can even be used to pre-treat wastewater before additional processing, i.e., DAF. Such pretreatment reduces maintenance needs and extends the life of filters and other machine components.

Additionally, Oil Skimmers, Inc. can custom-fit installations, according to vice president Jim Petrucci, and the company gives personalized service to each customer. The goal is to provide turnkey systems that can begin returning value immediately.

“You aren’t picking out something from a catalogue. We can adapt, modify, or even build from scratch.”

No matter what your application needs, Oil Skimmers, Inc. has a system that will manage all your waste oil recovery efforts. Call or contact us today, and we’ll find the right system for you.