Aug. 15, 2007 -- Rilta of Rathcoole, Ireland has installed a decanter centrifuge as part of its waste treatment processing plant and increased its potential throughput five-fold. The company anticipates full capital payback on the machine within a year.
Rilta processes hydrocarbon waste to recover reusable oil, clean water and solids. The source materials come from bilge water on ships, oil spill recovery, interceptors and wash water from factories and processing plants.
On entering the plant the feed material is first separated into oil which is cleaned for reuse, water which is treated prior to disposal through the foul sewer system and sludge. It's this remaining sludge, the tank bottoms, that has always limited the productivity of the plant.
Previously the sludge was filtered through frame presses, but this was not successful. "The frame presses kept clogging up and the resulting material was messy and difficult to handle," said Nick Beale, Rilta's Managing Director. "We had to find a more efficient alternative."
The alternative was to replace the frame presses with a decanter centrifuge to dewater the sludge. The CQ5000 was supplied by Centriquip of Clay Cross in Derbyshire. The decanter produces a water phase and a dewatered cake that is suitable for disposal through incineration.
"The decanter has increased our ability to handle the tank bottom material by 4-5 times," said Nick. "This has allowed us to multiply the throughput of the entire plant. We expect pay back within 12 months."
Centriquip is the UK's largest manufacturer of decanter centrifuges. Its workshops in Derbyshire have the ability to service and repair any make of machine and return it to full operating service often much faster than would have been possible using the original equipment manufacturer.
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