Oil Removal Solutions Blog

In the food processing industry, companies strive to deliver high-quality products, efficiently, and to ensure their production methods are environmentally friendly as possible.

Keep reading to learn more about:

• How smart food producers are investing in equipment that lowers costs, while enabling the manufacturing of high-quality products through efficient processes.
• How oil skimming equipment can effectively remove oil from the surface of other liquids (usually separating used cooking oil from wastewater for food producers).
• How food manufacturers have used tube-type oil skimmers to reduce costs for energy, waste treatment and waste removal—all while maximizing efficiencies. 

Whether your power plant is coal-fired, gas-fired, hydroelectric or nuclear, petroleum-based products like fuel, hydraulic fluid and lubricating greases and oils are critical to operational success.

Supporting numerous lubricant connections, bearings, hydraulic seals and moving equipment parts, such as pumps, conveyors, feeders, scrubbers, cranes, turbines and more—it’s inevitable that these petroleum-based products will find their way into the process, cooling, or cleaning water that flows throughout a plant—posing operational challenges. 

Typically, this oily or greasy water flows to one of four places within a power plant:

This year marks the 50th anniversary of our company—Oil Skimmers, Inc. For the last five decades, we’ve provided customers in 119 countries with simple, effective and reliable oil removal solutions.

In over 35,000 applications around the world, our products are used to tackle waste oil challenges. By implementing our skimming systems, oil/water separators and oil removal solutions, our customers are able to improve wastewater treatment processes, reduce maintenance costs and lower operational expenses, while simultaneously lessening their environmental impact.

But don’t take our word for it. Below, we’ve curated a few of our favorite customer quotes.

After learning about the benefits of oil skimming and deciding to remove oil from water in your application, you’re faced with a decision: which type of skimmer is best for your particular application?

Companies that install an oil skimming solution reap immediate benefits—lowering their ecological footprint, reducing maintenance requirements and an improving their overall wastewater treatment process, all while increasing profits. But in order to maximize these benefits, choosing an appropriate system is key.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in 2015 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

With a fleet of 250 tanker trucks—35 of which are used to haul soybean oil—one U.S.-based trucking company is dedicated to thoroughly cleaning its large fleet following transportation jobs. The oil tankers can each haul approximately 48,000 pounds of oil, so when cleaning the tanks, a significant amount of residual oil often mixes with the wash water.

As is common practice in many municipalities, local regulations require the trucking company to remove all residual oil from the wastewater before allowing the wastewater to be discharged into the city sewer system. When the trucking company reassessed their process for doing so, they found glaring inefficiencies.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Metaldyne Corp.’s Hatebur Operations in Royal Oak, Mich., produces driveline and transmission components at a rate of 120 parts per minute. To keep pace with demand, the plant can’t afford extended downtime because of inefficient equipment.

Unfortunately for Metaldyne, the plant faced a problem we commonly encounter in the oil-skimming business. Metaldyne’s oil water separator frequently clogged and was extremely inefficient.

Removing oil in the process or wastewater stream is critical to maximizing efficiencies within your operation. So, how can you start removing oil?

Oil skimmers offer the greatest flexibility when integrating this function into your existing workflow.

Choosing the right partner for your application will lead to the most effective installation and a larger ROI. As the first in their field, the Oil Skimmers Inc. team has the experience and continues to set the standard for providing what every customer should expect. Read on for six steps to choose the right partner.

Doing nothing about floating waste oil?

At Oil Skimmers, Inc., we think our products are the best in the world at removing floating waste oil in industrial maintenance applications. We have a lot of reasons for saying that and sometime we’ll talk more about those reasons, but what never ceases to amaze me is the number of times we compete against the alternative of a customer “doing nothing” with their floating waste oil.

Doing nothing, that is, not skimming floating oil, can be an option for certain customers. So we are often in the position of educating the customer to the benefits of recovering waste oil versus letting it accumulate.

So, Why Should You Skim Oil?

There are several reasons why floating waste oil in an industrial environment should be skimmed.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Waste oil doesn't have to be a burden to plant personnel. Using an oil skimmer ensures that oil will be removed with minimal effort. With the right equipment, a facility can manage the oil effectively while saving time and money.

Plant personnel are always looking for new tools and equipment to help them run their facility more efficiently. In many manufacturing and processing plants, oily water is present, which prevents a plant from functioning at its maximum productivity level.

Water has several purposes in a manufacturing or processing facility: It can be used for cooling machinery, washing down equipment, or in processing. Sometimes, this water picks up oil or grease from surrounding machinery and equipment. Regardless of whether the facility chooses to reuse the water or send it to the city treatment plant, it has to remove the oil. Some plants, however, are not properly equipped to remove oil effectively.

An oil skimmer is an ideal solution.