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Matching an Oil Skimmer to the Application – Part 1 | Abanaki
Is Oil Skimmer Maintenance Necessary?
Matching an Oil Skimmer to the Application – Part 1 | Abanaki
Is Oil Skimmer Maintenance Necessary?
There are many oil skimmer choices available but, how do you determine the best for the application? Two things should be considered at the start of the search. First, how much volume of contaminated oil requires removing? Every skimmer offers an oil removal yardstick measured in gallons per hour. Second, what are the dimensions of tank where skimmer will be operating? Some skimmers remove oil more efficiently than others based on the size of tank. Even if there is a low volume of floating oil in an application, a smaller skimmer may not be the ideal solution if the surface area is too large.
Wastewater Sumps
Most manufacturing or processing facilities have water systems where waste oil collects in a central tank or sump. Skimming the floating oils with little water content can reduce the cost of disposal and lower the contingent liabilities of wastewater discharge.
Solution: Model MB is designed for those applications where other skimmers do not provide adequate removal capacity. Multiple of two, three, or five belts are available. From a mere shimmer on top of water to a heavy oil slick, the Model MB performs efficiently, removing up to 200 gallons of oil per hour.
Coolants and Cutting Fluids
When machine coolants become contaminated with tramp oils, four things usually occur: 1) coolant life is reduced; 2) quality of machined parts is reduced; 3) in many cases, a smoke will begin to appear in the shop, causing irritation to the workers on jobs; and 4) the fluid takes on a “rotten egg” odor. Oil skimmers that remove tramp oils solve these problems and typically pay for themselves within a few months.
Solution: The Oil Boss clings to the side of the machine tool above the sump at approximately eye level. The small SurfaceSucker™ floats in the sump and draws in the top fluid layer. The coolant is pumped to the Oil Boss, where it passes through its special coalescing media causes the oil to separate from the coolant. The oil is held in the oil containment area, until the operator opens the disposal tap and drains the oil. The filtered fluid then travels into the clean chamber where is automatically pumped back to the sump.
Alternative: Mighty Mini, Tubetastic, Mighty Disk, Lil Blue
To learn more about oil skimmers, please contact our experts at 440-543-7400 or visit our website: www.abanaki.com
In this video, you will see how do different sizes Abanaki oil skimmers work with different media types.
If you’re not reclaiming your used oil than you are awarded no points, may not collect $200, or pass Go. If you are, you get all of the points. However, if you are doing this but NOT taking care of the equipment that is helping you reclaim that used oil, then you are just as much a part of the losing team.
Maintenance Needed?
Just like any piece of equipment; cars, computers, those 5-in-1 breakfast sandwich maker machines, all of them need tinkering and routine maintenance in order to keep the gears turning and the eggs fluffy. With that being said, oil skimmer maintenance is crucial in not only ensuring proper waste oil recovery, but overall success of your entire operation.
Over the years we have seen some troubling scenes. The things people do to oil skimmers…it is horrific. Years upon years of oil and incalculable layers of gunk encrusted all over the machine. Discharge valves clogged to the point where the skimmed content barely drips out. THE ORIGINAL BELT. For shame. All of you.
Quick Overview of How Oil Skimmers Work
If you’re not familiar with how oil skimmers work, here’s a quick overview: Although designs vary, all oil skimmers rely on specific gravity, surface tension and a moving medium to remove floating oil from a fluid’s surface.
Floating oil and grease cling to skimming media more readily than water, and water has little affinity for the media. This allows skimming media in the shape of a belt, disk, drum, etc. to pass through a fluid surface to pick up floating oil and grease with very little water. This oily material is subsequently removed from the media with wiper blades or pinch rollers.
Oil skimmers are simple, dependable and effective tools for removing oil, grease and other hydrocarbons from water and coolants. Often, an oil skimmer by itself can achieve the desired level of water purity. In more demanding situations, oil skimming is a cost-effective means of removing most of the oil before using more complicated and costly treatments such as coalescers, membrane filters and chemical processes.
To learn more about oil skimmers, please contact our experts at 440-543-7400 or visit our website: www.abanaki.com

Abanaki Corporation Oil Skimming Division
17387 Munn Road
Chagrin Falls, OH 44023
Phone: (440) 543-7400
Email: skimmers@abanaki.com
Fax: (440) 543-7404
ISO 9001:2015 Certified Company
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Matching an Oil Skimmer to the Application – Part 1 | Abanaki
Matching an Oil Skimmer to the Application – Part 1 | Abanaki
Is Oil Skimmer Maintenance Necessary? | Abanaki
Is Oil Skimmer Maintenance Necessary?