• Interactive Line Card

    Photos and product description of all of Abanaki’s oil skimmers.

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Interactive Line Card

Photos and product description of all of Abanaki’s oil skimmers.

Request Online

The World’s Leading Manufacturer of Industrial Oil Skimmers

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Industrial Wastewater

Oil and water mixtures derived from manufacturing processes and food processing facilities that are held in large holding tanks or pits. In these applications, oil is usually removed by an oil skimmer or it can be pumped out for disposal.

Industrial waste water oil skimmers

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Coolant Maintenance

The process of removing unwanted oils from machine tool coolant that will extend its life and lower disposal costs. Maintenance usually involves the use of an oil skimmer or coalescer to remove the oil and the introduction of oxygen via aeration.

Coolant maintenance oil skimmers

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Groundwater Remediation

The process of removing hydrocarbons that are located underground. The contamination is usually caused by spills or defective underground storage tanks that are leaking. The oil can be removed by using a belt skimmer or down well pump by accessing monitoring wells on site.

Ground remediation oil skimmers

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  • Belt skimmers

  • Tramp oil skimmers

  • Tube oil skimmers

  • Coolant skimmers

  • Disc oil skimmers

Ships Fast From Stock   •   100% Return Policy    •    Industry Leading Warranty    •    More Than 1 Million Products Sold

How Do Industrial Belt Oil Skimmers Work?

At Abanaki, we are continually striving to improve our position as the world leader in oil skimming solutions. Our newest generation of products continues to set the industry standard for performance, productivity, and quality in oil removal.

The Oil Grabber Model 8 belt skimmer provides simple, dependable, and cost-effective solution for removing oil, and grease in wastewater applications.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Based in Chagrin Falls, OH, Abanaki Corporation is the leading provider of oil skimming and coolant maintenance solutions to industries all over the world. For more than 75 years, Abanaki has been setting the standards for performance, productivity, and pollution control across the coolant maintenance, groundwater remediation, and industrial wastewater industries.

Oil skimming is the process of removing oil from the surface of water or other industrial fluids. The process occurs via oil skimmers, devices with oleophilic materials that attract and carry oil out of the fluid to be disposed of.

An oil skimmer is a machine that removes floating oil and grease from liquid. Floating oil is collected by the skimming media like a belt, tube, rope, mop, pump, or disk. Next, the media travels back to the machine to dispel/separate the oil. Weir skimmers, for example utilize a pump, while a belt skimmer relies on a belt to collect floating oils.

Abanaki manufactures a variety of tube, belt, and disk oil skimmers. These units are capable of operating in various industrial environments.

Abanaki offers a variety of products to support a healthy coolant maintenance routine. Examples include tramp oil skimmers, coolant sump deodorizing tablets, coolant mixing aids, oil skimmer replacement parts, oil water separators, refractometers, and more.

Abanaki offers oil skimming and coolant maintenance solutions for a wide variety of industries, like CNC machining, metalworking, steel mills, food processing, refineries, mining, hydroelectric power, fracking, recycling, groundwater remediation, and more.

A belt oil skimmer works by utilizing the differences in surface tension and specific gravity between oil and water. By moving continuously through the fluid, the belt breaks the surface tension of the fluid to collect oils. Next, it carries those oils upwards to a set of wiper blades, which scrape oil off the belt and into a discharge trough. Belt skimmers are ideal in applications with fluctuating fluid levels and can be modified to handle turbulence.

Like both belt and disk type skimmers, tube oil skimmers operate by continuously rotating an oil attracting media in the form of a closed loop tube through oily water. A motorized drive unit continuously cycles the tube through the fluid. During this process, surface oils cling to the outside of the tubing and are scraped off into a collection container by a series of wiper blades or scrapers. Depending on the model of tube skimmer, some tubes sink into the fluid to skim (TubeTastic), and others float out on the surface of the fluid (Oil Viper).

Disk skimmers operate by rotating disk-shaped mediums through liquid and collecting oil on the disk media, which is then scraped off by wipers and discharged. Surface tension is key. Disk skimmers are an excellent, lower cost option for CNC coolant sumps, parts washers, and more.

Coalescers operate by collecting oil into larger droplets. Using a filter medium, the oil is gathered into one place and combines into a larger oil mass, increasing the differing densities between oil and water. The oil mass then floats to the top of the coalescer, allowing for removal by other means.

Coalescers cover a bigger collection area than oil skimmers, allowing for quicker oil recovery and a reduced need to move the unit. Unlike oil skimmers, coalescers have no need for a collection container, preventing the potential for spillage.

Although many Abanaki products are available directly on our website’s online store, we ask that you contact us for pricing and delivery on larger units. Many of our products are also available on Amazon, as well as through our international network of sales representatives.

Oil skimmers tend to be relatively low maintenance. Typical points of care include routine cleaning or replacements of skimming media, checking wiper blades for proper contact and tension, clearing any debris, checking motor and gearbox operation, and oil changes/lubrication as needed. We recommend following your Abanaki product manual’s recommendations for general maintenance requirements.

Yes, Abanaki is always willing to find the right oil skimming solution for your application, which includes modifications required to make the application successful.

Finding the right oil skimmer for your application doesn’t have to be complex. Our product managers are always here to help you throughout the process.

Questions to consider include:

  • What size tank/pit do you have? Is it in ground or above ground? Open or covered?
  • Do fluid levels fluctuate? How much?
  • How much oil is present? What kind of oil are you managing?
  • Are there chemicals or cleaners involved that affect the fluid’s pH levels? What temperature is the fluid in the pit?
  • Is there turbulence? How much turbulence? Are there emulsions present?
  • What happens to the oil after you’ve skimmed it?
  • Where/how do you want to mount the skimmer?
  • What motor options appeal to you?
  • Does your application require any explosion proof components?
  • Does the application require a heating element to keep oil liquid enough to flow to the discharge point?

Oil skimmers have a removal rate typically expressed in gallons per hour, but the rate varies with oil viscosity. Abanaki rates oil removal using SAE 30 weight motor oil at 65 °F / 18°C, and we recommend erring on the high side to allow for peaks in the oil influx when specifying removal capacities.

Yes, certain models of Abanaki oil skimmers are portable. Examples include the Tote-It, the Oil Boss, the Mighty Mini, and the Lil’ Blue. A portable oil skimmer can be highly useful in applications with multiple machines, sumps, or wells that need to be skimmed periodically. The Tote-It, for example, is a popular choice in parts washer applications and can easily be moved from one location to another.

Removal capacity should be based on the maximum amount of oil that needs to be removed within the shortest available time. For instance, total oil influx may be 200 gallons in a 24-hour period, which averages about 8.3 gallons per hour. However, if most of it comes during an eight-hour plant shift, we recommend a removal rate roughly three times as high, especially if you are trying to prevent an unwanted discharge of contaminated water to a sewer system. As a rule-of-thumb, specify approximately twice the maximum capacity you anticipate needing for normal conditions.