ULTRASPIN Technology has installed and commissioned a heavy vehicle wash reclaim system at BHP Yandi in the Pilbara Region.
The system was designed to BHP specifications and to meet the site requirements for the discharge to the evaporation pond of 10 mg/L Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH).
Ultraspin supplied a heavy vehicle wash system that is treating 15,000 L/h. The Ultraspin system was installed to replace an existing coalescing plate pack system that was not able to meet the required TPH discharge standards. The system’s performance was inefficient and undersized for the flow on site.
The Ultraspin water treatment system was initially designed to meet the discharge standards of 10 mg/L but the BHP Environmental Standards were adjusted to 5 mg/L. The test results show the supplied equipment is able to comply with these stringent discharge requirements.
The Ultraspin ES15 is being used to remove oil and grease and solids from the vehicle wash down water as well as aeration of treated water to remove dissolved hydrocarbons.
The fluid properties of the process effluent water that are most important for the Ultraspin Separator performance are:
- Oil Water Density Difference (the less dense the oil the better)
- Oil Droplet Size (worse with the use of harsh cleaning chemicals)
- Water Temperature (the warmer the better)
- Water Viscosity