×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Pumping Grease and Water

Pumping Grease and Water

Pumping Grease and Water

(OP)
I am dealing with a pumping situation where I need to be able to tell when the pumped liquid has changed from grease to water.  I have a couple of ideas already like a thermal mass sensor or a conductivity meter but I'm primarily concerned about equipment fouling.  I've also thought about doing something on the storage side but that won't help if I get ratholing.  Does anyone have any suggestions or has anyone run across this before?   Thanks so much.

RE: Pumping Grease and Water

The change should show up in the pump power, and be reflected in motor current.  

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Pumping Grease and Water

(OP)
Thanks,  I had thought about that too.  With all the built up material that may exist in the line I'd be concerned about false triggers (e.g. a slug of material breaking loose and changing the pumping conditions).  That being said, this is still on the table.

RE: Pumping Grease and Water

You need to supply some details. For example:

What is the grease? The temperature? Liquid or solid grease? Indoors or outdoors? Why are you pumping these materials? Is this a waste or a process application? Capacity? How far are you trying to pump?

RE: Pumping Grease and Water

(OP)
Grease will be almost entirely food based waste.  Mostly liquid some solids.  Raw grease will be going into a tank which will be heated to help promote grease separation and to eliminate the chunkies.  From there the grease will be sent to a holding tank and then to a digestor.  The water will go to a separate process.  Looking to pump with a progressive cavity pump no more than a few hundred feet of horizontal separation and probably 10-15 feet of static lift.  I don't have all of the numbers yet but grease trap waste for the region works out to be about 1.4 million pounds a year.  If worse comes to worst, I can always just pump down to a certain level and not get all of the water with each run.

RE: Pumping Grease and Water

Most food wastes contain FOG and DAF units are used to separate the FOG from the water. You probably will have to use heat to keep the grease in solution.

RE: Pumping Grease and Water

Is someone looking into minimizing the fat input to the system at origin?

Economical it would seem sensible too look into this instead, or parallell, to put in equipment that seems to end up with considerable heating and separating costs 'downstream'.

RE: Pumping Grease and Water

You could also install an injection pump to put emulsifier into the system close to the point of origin of the grease.

Richard A. Cornelius, P.E.
WWW.amlinereast.com

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources