Allegheny Ludlum Corporation is a world leader in the technology, production and marketing of specialty materials - from stainless and silicon- electrical steels to titanium, nickel alloys and other advanced alloys. Its customers represent diversified consumer and capital goods markets in more than 30 nations.
In keeping with the company's ISO 9001-certified quality system, the leader goes well beyond traditional business measurements to balance bottom-line efficiency with service excellence and a commitment to quality. Nowhere is this balancing act more in evidence than in the company's industrial wastewater treatment facility in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Chief Wastewater Operator George Bergman's responsibilities encompass the restrictions on wastewater from regulation and corporate accountability practices with the need for quality water and a mandate to contain the overall cost of treatment.
Sump Station Savings
Like most manufacturing or processing facilities, Allegheny Ludlum employs a collection system by which rinse water is collected before being transferred to the wastewater treatment system. Chemical residue floats on the surface of the tanks, oil drops to the middle while water is near the bottom. This continuous settling wastewater treatment process enables the company to reuse a high percentage of the liquid recovered from the production line - an important consideration as the quality water so necessary for industrial processing becomes harder and increasingly more expensive to obtain.
As Bergman points out, the savings start with 'the effective removal of oil from the wastewater sump stations prior to treatment in the wastewater facility.' Yet as he and his three-man crew of wastewater operators discovered, hand skimming using absorbent pads was an inefficient and ultimately costly method.
Looking 'to reduce the time and labor associated with manually removing the oil with absorbent pads during our daily checks of the system,' Bergman discovered Abanaki Corporation, a leading manufacturer of oil skimming solutions in the country.
Bergman first became familiar with the national leader by word of mouth and did further research on the company's website.
Belt-driven Benefits
He chose two of the company's most popular models: the Abanaki Model 4 Oil Grabber and the Tote-It® Portable Oil Skimmer. Both skimmers' rely on the differences in specific gravity and surface tension between oil and water to be effective. These characteristics allow the skimmer belts to attract oil and other hydrocarbon liquids from the fluid surface quickly and efficiently with little water content - a key factor in reducing the cost of disposal and lower the contingent liabilities of wastewater discharge.
Each system also delivered specific benefits for specific areas of the treatment facility.
Ideal as a pretreatment before filtration, Bergman requested the installation of the Model 4 in a sump that collects water from several furnace wash tanks and used to remove oil. He and his team 'inspect the process daily to ensure that the Model 4 oil grabber is working properly, check the condition of waste oil drum and inspecting and cleaning the wiper blades.'
He reports the unit operates quite well.
The Model 4 removes oil at a rate of up to 20 gallons of oil per hour through a continuous belt and wiper action. 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.
Bergman had Abanaki's most mobile unit, the Tote IT, 'installed in a floor sump to remove oil from floor washing' - an ideal setting for this 36 lb portable unit that requires no modifications to mount and maintains skimming efficiency in fluctuating flied levels.
In fact, low maintenance and self-running sufficiency were key reasons Bergman chose Abanaki in the first place. As he explains, 'I chose the Abanaki products for their simplicity of operation and automatic features, such as operation timer and shut off switch when the waste oil drum is full.'
Now, after six months in operation, Bergman reports that the two units have yielded even more benefits. 'We have saved on labor and time by not having to apply and remove the oil absorbent pads every week,' he says.
Further, Allegheny Ludlum's maintenance and wastewater operators are impressed with its ability to remove oil and simplicity. Maintenance Technician Bob Zussy, who installed both units, commented on the simplicity of the units, noting to Bergman that they were easy to install and delivered a high quality of the workmanship, from the way the parts lined up to the quality coating.
Excellence in quality, price and delivery are key elements in Allegheny Ludlum's standing as a worldwide producer of specialty metals. A commitment to world-class production standards also necessarily involves operating an effective and efficient wastewater treatment facility. By installing Abanaki oil skimmers at key areas of the treatment process, the company underlines customer satisfaction, ensuring a residue-free product, and underscores community stewardship, providing proactive environmental protection measures.
The management of biological treatment residuals is a significant activity associated with the overall management and operation of any successful wastewater treatment utility. Estimated operational and maintenance costs for residuals treatment and ultimate disposal can range from 40 to 60 percent of a typical annual treatment facility operating budget and also may represent a similar fraction of overall treatment facility capital investment. From a regulatory perspective the disposal of wastewater treatment...
Restructured EHS organizations face the new math: 1+1= ¾
They`re baaccckk! `The most vigorous merger market in five years` is what the Wall Street Journal calls the recent wave of corporate restructurings.1 For officers and directors, these are happy times because a wonderful exit package awaits even those who lose their lofty positions. But, for real people doing real work, the prospects are much grimmer. How can an environmental, health and safety (EHS) organization survive a major restructuring? Here are...
The significant impact that members of the supply chain have on organisations’ environmental performance, either through their actions or the products they supply, is increasingly becoming recognised throughout business. Examples of organisations which have faced legal action, financial loss, and damage to corporate image as a result of their supply chain partners` activities are numerous, and as environmental protection climbs the social and political agenda so the risks will increase.
In many cases action has...
A wave of privatization is rolling through the water industry – at the environment‘s expense? In order to provide an answer to this question, the Environmental-Rating agency oekom research AG, Munich, put a number of water supply companies and manufacturers of water appliances to the environmental test. In results published today, oekom identifies the British water supplier Severn Trent as the environmental leader of the water supply group with a B grade in the overall Environmental-Rating. The Austrian water...
1.1 Scope and Objectives
A small number of viable options are presently available for the bleaching of wood pulp (delignification and brightening) during the manufacture of pulp and paper. The use of chlorine dioxide (ClO2) in the bleaching process has largely superceded the earlier use of Cl2, or elemental chlorine, in the majority of North American pulp mills: It was discovered over a decade ago that the previous widespread use of Cl2 contributed to the production and subsequent release to the environment of...
Abstract
In industrial wastewater treatment, the most important criteria are environmental protection laws and costs. In general, biological treatment is the most economic process and is usually used for treatment of degradable organic pollutants. However, the situation is completely different when the wastewater contains refractory organic pollutants or toxic substances. In this case, the biological degradation process is not often efficient and an alternative treatment is necessary. The electrochemical oxidation...
Advantages of Using an Oil Skimmer:
The use of an oil skimmer in the machine shop setting holds many benefits. Removing the oil from a machine coolant tank will initiate some esthetic benefits such as cutting down on the amount of smoke generated from the cutting tool coming into contact with oil laden coolant.
When a machine is shut down for the weekend, oil has a chance to come to the surface of the coolant tank. Bacteria that are living in the coolant tank use up the dissolved oxygen in the coolant mix,...
Sometimes, an important technological advance begins with a small step – back! Such is the case with remediation of hydrocarbons from groundwater utilizing existing recovery and monitoring wells.
For the past few years, state government has based decisions on the amount of clean up that they require by the risk posed to the environment. Risk Based Corrective Action, commonly called `Rebecca` (RBCA), is a process that utilizes the principles of exposure assessment, toxicity and mobility to make corrective action...
A county agency and a farmer in Vermont have teamed up to collect and compost food residuals and other organics. The Rutland County Solid Waste District (RCSWD), which is responsible for managing MSW for 16 cities and towns, began planning the food residuals composting program in December, 1996 with the Rutland Natural Resource Conservation District, one of 14 districts in Vermont that promotes agriculture, water quality and economic development.
The conservation district canvassed area farms to determine which...
Sites where halogenated VOCs may be found include burn pits, chemical manufacturing plants or disposal areas, contaminated marine sediments, disposal wells and leach fields, electroplating/metal finishing shops, firefighting training areas, hangars/aircraft maintenance areas, landfills and burial pits, leaking collection and system sanitary lines, leaking storage tanks, radioactive/mixed waste disposal areas, oxidation ponds/lagoons, paint stripping and spray booth areas, pesticide/herbicide mixing areas, solvent...
Abstract
Africa
The economic and social needs of Africa depends more on its environmental resources but these natural resources are seriously declining and that is really effecting the entire region. Sustainable development in this rapidly changing region has become an imperative, and must take place in the complex context of a diverse and changing ecosystem, political transition and evolution toward market economies.
The region is heading towards integrating environmental components into sectors like...
The Surface Coatings Resins Business Unit of Akzo Nobel in Louisville, KY, has chosen the Macro Porous Polymer - Extraction technology for treating process wastewater. The MPPE unit with a capacity of 20 gpm removes xylene and ethyl benzene from 200 ppm to less than 20 ppb. The new system assures compliance with local discharge regulations, while improving economy, reliability, and flexibility in the water treatment area.
The Louisville Resins operation manufactures a variety of resins for coatings manufacturers,...
Background
Mt Gravatt Auto Wreckers (MGAW) is an automotive dismantling business located in the catchment area of Bulimba creek on Brisbane’s south side. It is a medium sized business and has a staff of three. Since taking over the business two years ago, Mark Breeds, the proprietor, has made significant changes towards improving the quality of his workplace.
He was confronted with the problem of implementing an Environmental Management System to a site that had been neglected for years. Mark not only had to...
It is a common question asked every day by people in all fields of industry. Machine shops, steel mills, industrial manufacturers, and many others are faced with the problem of removing oils from coolants and wastewater on an everyday basis. They are faced with high disposal and maintenance costs. Some manufacturers are charged extreme amounts to have their contaminated water treated properly by their local water treatment facility.
Companies look for effective ways to remove the oil from their wastewater or...
Introduction:
Contaminated soil is screened, processed with a crusher and pug mill, and mixed with reagents. The mixture is heated in a reactor. The dehalogenation process is achieved by either the replacement of the halogen molecules or the decomposition and partial volatilization of the contaminants.
Base-catalyzed Decomposition (BCD)
Base-catalyzed decomposition (BCD) process was developed by EPA`s Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory (RREL), in cooperation with the Naval Facilities Engineering Services...
The Northern Territory University’s Faculty of Science have designed and installed a ‘Neutralization Pit’ as their ‘cleaner production initiative. The primary objectives of the Northern Territory University adopting this form of treatment for the chemical wastewater generated by the Faculty of Science was to:
Prevent pollution and eutrophication of the receiving Darwin watercourses as untreated waste water particularly water containing chemical wastewater compounds can cause significant environmental and...
The minimization of wastes requiring disposal is increasingly important as available disposal options become more and more constrained, and particularly as more substances enter everyday use which are not readily decomposed in the natural environment and which can present long term hazards. This note sets out some basic principles for waste minimization in industrial processes, where `minimization` is taken to include avoidance of the generation of wastes where practical and the productive utilization of any...
Throughout American history, technological and institutional innovation has increased our prosperity. Public leadership has encouraged businesses, workers, and consumers to invest in new ideas that meet the challenges of one generation, paving the path to a better world for the next generation. The energy system that fuels our 20th century economy exemplifies such progress through partnership. Most of this system is built upon innovations of the 19th century, when coal was industrialized and oil commercialized,...
` In order to determine the impacts of a particular discharge on ambient water quality, it is usually necessary to model the diffusion and dispersion of the discharge in the relevant water body. The approach applies both to new discharges and to upgrading of existing sources. This note provides guidance on models that may be applicable in the context of typical Bank projects.`
Introduction
Mathematical models can be used to predict changes in ambient water quality due to changes in discharges of wastewater. In...
Explosives-contaminated process waste waters can be subdivided into two categories: red water, which comes strictly from the manufacture of TNT, and pink water, which includes any washwater associated with load, assemble, and pack (LAP) operations or with the demilitarization of munitions involving contact with finished explosive. Despite their names, red and pink water cannot be identified by color. Both are clear when they emerge from their respective processes and subsequently turn pink, light red, dark red,...
` Growing volumes of both industrial and municipal wastewater are being discharged to surface waters but the treatment provided frequently is inadequate to protect the desired uses of the receiving waters. With limited resources in terms of both institutional capacity and finance, governments face difficult choices in optimizing their investments in municipal systems and establishing practical requirements for industrial wastewater treatment. This note presents an approach to making coherent decisions on levels...
` Management of hazardous waste is a growing concern in many countries. The long-term impacts and costs of improper disposal can be very high and the emphasis must be on prevention. A comprehensive management system should include (i) policies, institutions and effective regulations and (ii) adequate and acceptable disposal facilities (either public or private). This note outlines the key elements of such a system.`
Problems
Improper disposal of hazardous waste is an increasing problem in many developing...
As large generators of oily wastewater tighten effluent controls, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is targeting smaller generators. Some of the firms receiving their attention are smaller manufacturing plants, automotive garages, mobile equipment service shops and truck farms. Many of these firms do not have access to a sanitary sewer system that will accept oily wastewater. Because disposal in storm sewers also is prohibited, they frequently use injection wells, septic system drainfields, dry wells...
Pressures on the environment may occur through chemical, physical and biological agents. The subject of this study is physical agents, where physical fields are examined.
Physical fields are part of the natural environment. Depending upon their properties and the surrounding conditions, physical fields are transmitted through the spaces in which we live, potentially affecting human health and nature. Human activity can add to, modify, and enhance and reduce the intensity of these fields. Furthermore, changes in...
Abstract
This paper describes two successful applications of ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technology used to reclaim water, reduce waste water discharge costs. The first case history covers oily waste water treatment at a major aluminum beverage can manufacturing plant. The second case describes treatment of waste water from a multi-plating bath section of a major wheelchair manufacturing facility. The mechanisms of separation effected by both UF and RO are described at the molecular...
A variety of industries are finding that it makes sense to reevaluate the way they treat industrial process water, both to improve the quality of their products and increase the efficiency of their processes. Purification systems utilizing crossflow membrane filtration, such as reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration (NF) or ultrafiltration (UF) can be a good alternative to traditional filtration and chemical treatment systems. RO crossflow filtration systems produce water similar in quality to demineralized or...
A process for manufacturing explosives produces an ammonium nitrate-laden wastewater, which can be successfully treated with reverse osmosis (RD). Key to RD use is balancing the competing waste solution chemistry requirements of the two target solutes, to enhance the performance of the particular RD membrane chosen. While the EPA requires only the reduction of the N03 and NH4+ discharge levels one manufacturer has chosen the approach of reusing both permeate and concentrate streams to `close the loop.` A lab-scale...
Customer comments
No comments were found for Allegheny Ludlum uses Abanaki to support world-class wastewater treatment standards. Be the first to comment!
Oil Grabber - Model 4 - Belt Oil Skimmer