Aug. 15, 2007 -- A waste management company has made dramatic savings in its sludge disposal costs by installing a CQ 3000 centrifuge supplied by Derbyshire manufacturer Centriquip.
Dorset-based, IPPC* permitted, Oil and Water Ltd. specialises in the treatment of hazardous industrial waste including sludges, water/oil mixtures, soluble oils and waste oil. Before the centrifuge was introduced, sludge produced during processing had to be transported by road to a plant in the midlands for safe disposal: a costly operation that was quickly becoming unsustainable.
"The cost of handling and transporting sludge hundreds of miles was becoming a major problem and we needed to come up with a way of processing more of it on-site," said Oil and Water's director Stewart Silvey. "We approached several companies for help, but Centriquip was the only one that showed real commitment to solving our waste problem. They provided test equipment and people to help us find the most practical solution. All the other systems we looked at were more complex and not as cost effective," continued Stewart.
The centrifuge enables the liquids in the sludge to be extracted for further on-site processing, including the retrieval of oils for recycling. The solids are formed into 'cake', which can be disposed of via landfill or incineration. Often the solids can be reclassified as non-hazardous, which further reduces the cost of disposal. An overall reduction of around 75% has been achieved in the volume of waste material leaving the site.
Oil and Water developed the Centrifuge system to be portable so it could assist their Industrial Services Division for on-site treatment.
Centriquip manufactures a wide range of dewatering and thickening equipment, primarily for handling wastewater. The company also has the ability to service and repair any make of decanter centrifuge, often with a much faster turnaround than the original manufacturer.
*Integrated Pollution Prevention Control###
