FRIESS Oil Skimmer in the food industry for pre-treatment of waste water
Sustainable and environmentally friendly measures in food production – removal of floating fats from water
Customer: Plukon Food Group
Company profile: Plukon Food Group supplies meals, salads, poultry products, and much more to leading European food manufacturers. With 34 locations across seven countries and around 9,500 employees, Plukon produces food with a focus on healthy and sustainably produced products.
Problem:
A large amount of floating oils and fats were accumulating in the separator tank of the wastewater treatment plant due to a considerable amount of salad dressing entering the waste water stream. The organic oils and fats formed a thick, viscous layer that was somewhat foamy and therefore difficult to remove.

As this developed over a longer period of time, a certain amount of organics also formed in the separator tank, which was undesirable on the one hand and naturally led to a corresponding odor on the other hand.
The simple solution of disposing of the entire wastewater, including the floating layer, would have been very expensive and therefore not a sensible solution in the long term, as such ingress into the waste water system occurred again and again. Another solution therefore had to be found.
Solution: FRIESS oil skimmer W40


Due to the accumulation of the salad dressing on the surface of the waste water, this offered an effective solution: the use of a tube skimmer. Our W40 model, which has already proven effective in many similar applications, was selected for this special case.
The skimmer was mounted on the short side of the separator tank and supplemented with a tube guide on the opposite side of the tank
This tube guide was crucial for guiding the oil collector tube over the entire surface of the separator tank and thus completely removing the floating layer. The flexible tube now moved over the entire surface of the tank and collected the floating dressing, maximizing the efficiency of the system.
Result
Within a very short time, the oil skimmer had separated the entire carpet of salad dressing into a separate collection container. This not only enabled a quick solution to the problem, but also a sustainable and cost-efficient disposal of the oils and fats. The customer was extremely satisfied with the result, as the wastewater treatment system was back up and running smoothly and unnecessary costs were avoided.
This incident once again underlines the versatility and efficiency of our tube skimmer models and shows how customized solutions in wastewater treatment can help to deal with complex problems quickly and effectively.