| The EPA superfund site program had undertaken the project of cleaning up creoste oil from the ground surrounding a former paper mill. The EPA pilot plant was experiencing problems with respect to effectively backwashing the existing pilot multimedia filters, as the multimedia filters were experiencing much downtime. The (HBDF) was installed and operated for 2 months, backwashing daily in lieu of the multi media filters, downstream of a dissolved air floatation (DAF) unit, and upstream of granular activated carbon (GAC) beds.
The pilot test showed inlet levels between 3.5 and 10 ppm of free oil and suspended solids and the filter effluent contained trace amounts (less than 1 ppm) free oil and TSS. After the 2-month trial, it was determined that (1) 3' diameter (7ft2) Deep Bed Filter can continually process the same water that (2) 5' diameter (19.6 ft2 each or 39.2ft2 total area) multimedia filters had been processing. Throughout the test, the HBDF effluent did not cause the differential pressure across the GACs to rise at any level, greater than expected. The GACs are used to remove the dissolved polychlorinated constituent in the water, which is continually monitored, to be certain that water is always below the plants regulated discharge limit for the said constituent. Once the fuel oils are removed and the groundwater is re-mediated, the land will be converted into a public park.
Hydromation® is a licensed trademark of Petreco International |
