In order to protect our groundwater, it is important that oil and fuel separators are used where the rainwater or wastewater could be polluted with oils or hydrocarbons that are difficult to dissolve. It is essential to use oil/fuel separators at petrol stations, car washes, vehicle repair workshops and in fact any place where machines and equipment are worked on and where the possibility of oil being mixed with water exists. This means that light liquid separators must be installed in order to ensure that the water going into the drainage system is free of oil contaminants.
One single drop of petrol is enough to contaminate 1000 litres of water, which is why environmental damage must be prevented at an early stage. For this reason, polluted wastewater must be pre-treated and cleaned with the aid of appropriate separator systems before it is discharged to the public sewer system. KESSEL offers an extensive range of innovative polyethylene separators for different areas of application and wastewater quantities. The separators are available in a wide selection of sizes and different classes.
KESSEL’S Light liquid separators according to EN 858
EN 858 requires that oil-/fuel separators have hydrocarbon outlet concentrations at or below 100 mg/litre.
Simply put, wastewater containing oil and fuel is drained from the floor, area or channel drains and into the oil/fuel separator tanks. Due to the gravitation principle used in the separator tank, the lighter oil and fuel rises to the top while the heavier sludge and sediment settles at the bottom. Clean wastewater then flows out which can be safely released into the wastewater system. As soon as the oil or fuel reaches the opening to the float chamber, the float seals immediately and water stops flowing. It will only resume flowing once the oil or fuel is cleaned out of the chamber.
With coalescence separators a coalescence filter insert is installed in front of the drain to improve the separating effect in the separator. When the water flows through, tiny oil drops combine to form large drops which then leave the coalescence material and rise to the top.
All light liquid separators are supplied for underground installation up to load class D. There are suitable sampling chambers and alarm equipment available in the range for all nominal sizes (available up to NS 20).
Oil/fuel separators are used to protect bodies of water and sewage systems from pollution through mineral oils. They work on the principle that the lower specific density of insoluble mineral oil products in wastewater makes them float upwards and collect at the surface. The outlet system with self-actuated closure prevents separated materials from flowing out.
The product range
KESSEL’s design based on EN 858 and state of the art manufacturing provide separation systems surpassing all needs of the industry. The separators are available in a wide range of sizes and different classes.
- Coalescence separators Class I
- Oil- / Fuel separators Class II
- Automatic measuring device SonicControl
The principle of gravity in the separator
The separating process is handled in the separator by making use of the principle of gravity (weight and buoyancy). The separator is divided into three zones, the sludge trap (1), the separator chamber (2) and the oil trap (3).
The sludge trap at the bottom serves to retain sediments such as sand. The oil trap located at the top serves to retain light liquids up to a density of 0.95 g/cm3. In the zone between the sludge trap and the oil trap, the so-called separating chamber, the incoming wastewater is calmed to a major extent due to the increase in flow cross-section and in surface area. Under the influence of the above-mentioned forces the light liquid, water and sludge are separated.
Advantages of KESSEL oil/fuel separators
Alarm notification units – Monitoring of the separated oil/ fuel storage volume, notification of pipe blockages or inlet flows exceeding the designed capacity of the separator – all can be handled with the installation of KESSEL alarm units.
- Sludge/sediment direct disposal device – Direct disposal hardware for disposing of the sludge/sediment or for disposing of the entire contents of the separator.
- Integrated sampling device – The sampling chamber can be equipped with a permanently installed sampling hose for quick and easy removal of effluent samples.
- Outlet closure lock – self actuated – Outlet closure lock provides a safety factor to ensure that no oil/fuel is released from the separator outlet.
- Oil / fuel direct disposal device – Lower disposal volume/disposal costs achievable with the direct oil/fuel disposal device. Sludge/sediment and water remain in the separator while only the separated oil/fuel is removed.
- Load Class D (40.0 ton) manhole covers – KESSEL separators are available in class B (12.5 ton) and D (40.0 ton) cast iron manhole covers. Class D manhole covers handle the loads of full size tractor trailers meaning that the separators can be installed in all types of traffic areas.
- Recyclable material – The material polyethylene can be fully recycled and re-used in the manufacture of high grade plastic products.
- Light weight – heavy duty – Polyethylene combined with state of the art manufacturing creates high grade, heavy duty products. The underground polyethylene separators can compensate for minor earth settlement and movements.
- Transport friendly – The KESSEL oil/ fuel and coalescence separators are easily shipped with standard trucks because of their light weight/ heavy duty construction. On site the separators can also be easily moved with forklifts using the integrated fork lift grips.
- Leak proof separating system – The monolith chamber construction accompanied with vertically adjustable upper sections and custom sealing gaskets provides a leak-proof system which keeps oils and fuels inside the separator and away from the environment.
- Adjustable upper sections – The upper sections of KESSEL oil/fuel and coalescence separators provide important installation advantages. During installation the upper section can be twisted, tilted by up 5° and vertically adjusted by up to 500 mm. This allows for the upper sections and manhole covers to be easily matched to on-site grades and elevations. An additional advantage is that during the life of the product, the KESSEL manhole covers automatically compensate for settlement or heaving of the soil.
