July 28th, 2019

Floating Oil Skimmers VS Fixed Oil Skimmers

Oily Tip of The Month:  Consider the type of pump you our using when removing the oily water from the source. 

STOP!! What are you going to do with this oily water?
Is it going to go to a oil water separator-(OWS)? Are you eventually going to need to separate the oil from the water?
IF SO! the way you pump this oily water is going to affect the downstream separation process. HUGELY!

WHY/HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?
If you use high shear pumps to move the oil there WILL be SERIOUS headaches and problems ahead due to the fact that you will create a mechanical emulsion by chopping the oil into micro particles that are
MUCH harder to separate from water. Some very small oil particles might not even float. Avoid when possible! 
Call US! This is what we do everyday! 

When the oil in the water always goes to one place in the pit, tank or sump, and the water levels don’t change the skimming is fairly easy.
​That’s where you put the oil skimmer if you can.

Selective Floating Drum Oil Skimmer

​Selective Oil Skimmers can either be Floating or fixed but will always have some type of motor driven rotating element (mop, drum, belt, tube or disc) which attracts and collects oil which is then wiped, scraped or wrung off, usually gravity drained directly to or pumped away to storage. 

Want to recover oil only and leave the water? OR Can you handle getting a bunch of water? CALL US! We've done this before!!

Selective FIXED Belt Oil Skimmer

The Selective Fixed Belt Skimmer is ideal for when the oil collects in place in the tank,sump, or....

But if winds or flow changes move the oil around then things get a bit tougher and you usually have to work with a floating type oil skimmer that you can put in and move to where the oil is. These floating skimmers are usually floating drum skimmers or discs or floating weir type skimmers. Both would have a hose attached to the skimmer sump connecting it to a pump for transferring the oil to storage. Floating oil skimmers are by far the easiest to use, and installation is just a matter of putting it in place.

Have a question about an application or what type skimmer to use. 
Just ask ROSCOE. Leave a comment below and we'll be sure to reply FAST!

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