If you are going to implement a cost effective Cosmetic Cleaning Remediation System for Mobile Cosmetic Cleaners then you are going to have to understand some new terms and technology. If you want one size fits all then get ready to spend tens of thousands of dollars.
Definitions, Design Parameters, and Terms:
Blinding Off: When a filter or absorbent will no longer allow a liquid to pass through it.
Channeling: When a liquid passes through a medium like graphite granules and creates a path through the material so that it does not pass through the graphite granules for adsorption of contaminates.
Absorbent - a material having capacity or tendency to absorb another substance.
Adsorbent - a material, such as activated charcoal, on which adsorption can occur; the adhesion of atoms, ions, or molecules from a gas, liquid, or dissolved solid to a surface. This process differs from absorption, in which a fluid (the absorbate) permeates or is dissolved by a liquid or solid (the absorbent).
Oil Only Absorbent: When an absorbent will absorb petroleum based fluids and allow water to pass through.
Hydrophobic: will not absorb water, rejects water or water based liquids, will not readily dissolve in water, and repels water.
Hydrophilic: will attract water, will dissolve by water, draw out water, loves water
Oleophilic - having a strong affinity for oils rather than water
Coalescence is the process by which two or more droplets, bubbles or particles merge during contact to form a single daughter droplet, bubble or particle.
A Coalescer is a technological device performing coalescence. Used to get oil droplets to form larger droplets and rise to the surface of waste water.
Stokes' law: A scientific formula that is used to design oil/water separators for waste water treatment. Predicts the speed of oil/separation and size needed for different flows.
Oil Only Absorbent Socks, Dikes, and Booms: Socks are more moldable than dikes or booms. The skin is constructed of a lightweight knit material. Socks are mainly used in maintenance applications for containing and absorbing liquids. Dikes do not mold or form around equipment as well as socks, but are more durable. Dikes are used for containing and absorbing small and large spills in open areas. Booms consist of a particulate-type absorbent covered with a porous fabric.
Universal Absorbent: Will absorb all fluids.
Oil Only Absorbent: Will absorb hydrocarbons while rejection other fluids, like water.
Oil Only Polypropylene: The most popular material used in the manufacturer of Oil-Only Absorbents for Cosmetic Cleaning in socks, dikes and booms. Polypropylene is turn into a Universal Absorbent by treating the resin with surfactants. Be aware that detergents which contain surfactants may have an effect on your Oil-Only Absorbents.
Notice that almost everything that creates an Oil Sheen is absorbed by Oil Only Polypropylene, if you start getting an Oil Sheen your absorbent needs to be replaced with a new one. Some Oil-Only Absorbents can be “squeeze out” and reused.
Disclaimer: This information is provided as a guide for absorbing chemicals with polypropylene materials only. No claims or warranties are expressed or implied as to the absolute accuracy of the data supplied. In all cases it is assumed chemicals in question are at ambient temperatures and pressure and are used in basic state, not in combination or mixtures. Small test sampling by users is always recommended to ensure safe application.
Disposal: Unused polypropylene materials can be subject to normal disposal and are suitable for landfills. Disposal procedures for saturated material are based on fluids absorbed. Please comply with all local, state and federal environmental regulations when disposing of absorbents and adsorbents.
Heavy Metals (Toxic Metals): for our industry most common are: Lead, Zinc, Copper, Arsenic, Mercury, and Aluminum; Less Common are: Cadmium, Iron, Chromium, Beryllium, Cobalt, and Manganese.
Vermiculite removes zinc.
MetalZorb™ efficiently removes heavy metals through ion absorption and filtration. MetalZorb™ reduces and removes zinc, copper, lead and other heavy metals commonly found in stormwater and industrial process water discharge. With high ion absorption capabilities and quick, aggressive kinetics, dissolved metals are captured and held in the media so they won’t leach out and can easily be disposed of as solid waste. Works better and faster than Carbon for removing Heavy Metals, but is a new technology.
Carbon filters are most effective at removing chlorine, sediment, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and heavy metals from water by adsorption (adheres to the surface). Poorly adsorbed by Activated Charcoal: Lithium, strong acids and bases, metals and inorganic minerals (such as sodium, iron, lead, fluorine, and boric acid); alcohols (such as ethanol, methanol, isopropyl alcohol, glycols, and acetone); and hydrocarbons such as petroleum distillates (e.g., cleaning fluid, coal oil, fuel oil, gasoline, kerosene, paint thinner) and plant hydrocarbons (pine oil).
Google “Activated Carbon”, “MetalZorb”, “Vermiculite” for a lot of absorption and adsorption Test Data.
Above is a typical Design of a Sand or Grease Separator. There is a series of compartments to take advantage of gravity for solids heavier than water (sand) to sink to the bottom, and liquids lighter than water (oil) to float to the top. Normally coalescers and absorbents are installed in the compartments to aid this process.
Number 1 problem for remediation systems is the sludge that stops up all of the filters and coalescers.
There is no technical or mechanical reason that all of the chambers have to be in one container as a single unit.
Cosmetic Cleaners need a modular unit in separate pods for easy installation on trailers with limited space.
As much as possible the unit needs to be based on gravity flow with common items that are easy to obtain and inexpensive. 55-gallon drums were selected with continuous running sumps pump for waste water transfer from drum to drum for air injection for Air Encapsulation & Floatation.
The design needs to be intuitive and simple to understand for ease of operation.
The base Hydrocarbon Silt Separator Pod (HSSP) was adopted from Patented Technology from the Commercial Kitchens Industry because of its capabilities coupled with economical price.
Felt Filters blinded off too fast to be suitable for our industry coupled with hard to clean with a pressure washer.
For our industry Nylon Mesh worked best because of chemical resistance, strength, durability, price, and can be cleaned with a pressure washer.
Filtration and removal of hydrocarbons needs to be accomplished in multiple steps in order to be cost effective.
Nylon Filtration of the MultiTech™ HSSP for sanitary sewer discharge is 800, 200, 150 microns for Sludge, Silt, and Polish in Pods 1, 2, & 4.
Sump pumps need to run continuous for air injection into the waste water to aid in hydrocarbon separation with Air Encapsulation & Floatation.
Electrocoagulation, also known as Radio Frequency Diathermy or Short Wave Electrolysis, is a technique used for wash water treatment, wastewater treatment, industrial processed water, & medical treatment. Electricity-based electrocoagulation technology removes contaminants that are impossible to be removed by filtration or chemical treatment systems, such as emulsified oil, TPH, suspended solids, and heavy metals. Fully automated, modular system has no filters to clean or replace and does not require use of chemicals. These are very expensive systems and were not considered applicable Mobile Cosmetic Cleaning.
Nanofiltration is a relatively recent membrane filtration process used most often with low total dissolved solids water such as surface water and fresh groundwater, with the purpose of softening (Polyvalent Cation removal) and removal of disinfection by-product precursors such as natural organic matter and synthetic organic matter. These are very expensive systems and were not considered applicable Mobile Cosmetic Cleaning.
Swimming Pool Pleated Cartridge Filters that are 150 to 225 square feet have nominal ratings of about 20 microns, the manufacturers do not guarantee to micron ratings as that turns the filters from a consumer item into an Industrial Product at a significant higher production cost.
Micron Absolute pore size rating specifies the pore size at which a challenge organism of a particular size will be retained with 100% efficiency under strictly defined test conditions.
A Nominal pore size rating describes the ability of the filter media to retain the majority of particulate at (50 - 98%) the rated pore size.
In Industrial Absolute filtration rating provides a much stricter efficiency standard for the filter, typically 98-99% percent rejection rate at the stated micron.
Remediation is effected by detergents, temperature, contamination, water quality, remediation process, etc. Unless tests are conducted under very strict set of conditions it is almost impossible to guarantee the quality of the discharge waste water for any system.
The EPA has a Model Cosmetic Cleaning Ordinance on their website. Jurisdictions are not required to adopt this ordinance; therefore each jurisdiction BMPs for Cosmetic Cleaning is whatever the AHJ says they are. These may be more or less restrictive than the Model Ordinance.
To comply with the EPA’s Model Cosmetic Cleaning Ordinance you need to pass your waste water through an Oil-Absorbent Boom so there is no Oil Sheen and filter to 400 Microns or smaller.
Dirt is not a considered a pollutant but too much dirt will raise the TSS (Total Suspended Solids) about the allowable limit which is a violation of the CWA.
Microbes (Oil Eating Enzymes, Oil Eating Bacteria effectively removes surface and embedded stains from spilled petroleum products on concrete and asphalt garage floors, driveways, shop floors, loading docks, fueling areas, parking lots, oil storage areas, and washing waste water. It inoculates the contaminants with bacterial cells and oxygen catalysts necessary for complete biodegradation. This has successful been employed in stationary waste water recycle systems, but works too slow and is not practical for the Mobile Contract Cleaner with today’s technology.
Advanced oxidation processes (abbreviation: AOPs), in a broad sense, refers to a set of chemical treatment procedures designed to remove organic (and sometimes inorganic) materials in water and waste water by oxidation through reactions with hydroxyl radicals (·OH). [1] In real-world applications of wastewater treatment, however, this term usually refers more specifically to a subset of such chemical processes that employ ozone (O3), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and/or UV light. (from Wikipedia) These processes are used to some extent in Mobile Systems but are expensive.
Centrifugal Separation: Fairly successful in the mobile situation but is expensive and Nylon Mesh Filtration can do a competitive job with gravity flow.
Robert is a genius. Years ago when I flew to Texas to talk with Robert over an organization issue and he was ready with a thick Binder with exacting information-- I knew right then and there I'm dealing with a genius. To this day I am honored to know Robert for sure.
