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Wastewater Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: SUPER SHREDDER® – Just What the Warden Ordered

Inmates in correctional institutions have found a new pastime. By flushing oversized items down their toilets they either accidentally or deliberately cause the facility’s wastewater to back up. Often the goal is to gain extra time out of the cell. By flooding their cell or cell block, they force the facility to move them during the cleanup period. These misdeeds have often been rewarding ….that is up until now! A women’s correctional institution had a major problem with plugging of pumps and plumbing systems. Inmates were flushing every conceivable item into the sewage system including tampons, aluminum cans, pillow cases, pants, full blankets, and bed sheets. The result was repeated sewage backup and flooding.The pumps would become so jammed that it would be necessary to dismantle them to clear them – a time consuming and grueling job. Often the pump’s bearings and seals would become damaged and have to be replaced. The pump downtime would last between a few hours and a few days. In the meantime, sewage would back up into the inmate’s cells requiring their relocation. This would only encourage a repeat performance. The situation called for an urgent solution. That’s when the maintenance personnel turned to Franklin Miller for help. Franklin Miller Inc. supplies a full line of grinders and shredders designed for wastewater solids reduction. Several of the company’s grinders are well suited for such heavy solids applications including their SUPER SHREDDER® and TASKMASTER® grinders. These units employ a powerful, low speed, high shear mechanism to reduce tough concentrated solids. They can keep pump systems running smoothly and assure the discharged wastewater is pre-treated to meet the connected sewer district’s regulations. A Model SS12000 SUPER SHREDDER was selected and installed on the suction side of the pump. With its 12 inch flanges and a 10 HP direct coupled gear drive the SUPER SHREDDER was a perfect match to the system’s capacity requirements. The unit, with a straight thru flanged design, was easy to connect, much like an ordinary valve. The results were immediate. The pumps were no longer subject to frequent jamming. In fact, there hasn’t been any pump ragging or backup since installation. As a bonus, major pump components such as impeller, seals and bearings have lasted much longer as well. The inmates have had to resign themselves to their cells and their normal daily routine. To quote the maintenance supervisor, “We depend on the SUPER SHREDDER for our system operation. Without it our system would be down in a matter of hours, so we just can’t be without it.”

Wastewater Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: SUPER SHREDDER® To The Rescue

The City of Corning, New York Wastewater Treatment Plant serves its 10,500 residents by managing wastewater through full secondary treatment with nitrification. This facility processes an average of 1.2 million gallons per day (mgd), with a peak capacity of 6.8 mgd. The treatment includes grit screening, primary settling, flow through a trickling filter, and biological contractors for nitrification before releasing effluent into the Chemung River. Sludge and solids from the settling tanks are processed in an anaerobic digester, heated to 95-97°F using a spiral heat exchanger. After several weeks, the digested solids are mixed with polymer, dewatered, and then disposed of in a landfill. Since 1994, the facility has relied on the Franklin Miller SUPER SHREDDER® Disintegrator for enhancing its operational efficiency. Alan M. Bontorno, the Chief Operator, attests to the crucial role of the SUPER SHREDDER® in maintaining the heat exchanger's efficiency at two different wastewater plants. He notes that before the installation of the SUPER SHREDDER®, raw sludge would clog the flow in the heat exchanger within two days. The SUPER SHREDDER® effectively makes debris uniform, ensuring a smooth flow. The SUPER SHREDDER® features modular construction, facilitating easy maintenance and allowing options for either pre-assembled cartridge replacement or individual part ordering for rebuilding. Its durable cutter and cage assembly have consistently improved operations. Bontorno highlights the machine's reliability and the excellent support from knowledgeable staff. The SUPER SHREDDER® is designed for grinding tough solids in sludge or sewage lines, combining unparalleled grinding capabilities with a maintenance-friendly design. It features a patented "spherical shredding" mechanism that finely cuts and shears tough sewage solids. The unit is known for its hard-faced stainless steel cutters, offering exceptional wear resistance. With fewer moving parts due to its spherical rotor design, the SUPER SHREDDER® requires less maintenance compared to other units. It includes a convenient S250 Auto-Reversing control system that detects jam conditions and automatically reverses, minimizing downtime. ‍

Industrial Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: ROLLMASTER™ RM

Problem: A manufacturer needed a mill that could finely reduce highly abrasive glass beads without creating excessive fines and while controlling dust. Solution: The manufacturer heard about the Franklin Miller’s ROLL MILL and decided to give them a try. After trying their material on a test unit at the factory they found the performance and output to be just what they were looking for. It quickly reduced the beads to their desired output range without any problem. ROLL MILL provides dependable fine reduction of a wide variety of solids with an efficient once-through milling action. These units can produce an output in a narrower, more controllable particle size range than other size reduction methods. ROLL MILL employs dual counter-rotating smooth, serrated or grooved rolls that mill, pinch and crack solids to an output range between 13 and 150 mesh without degrading the valuable qualities of the feed material and with low dust. Roll gaps are variable to fine tune the particle size discharged. These units can efficiently reduce such materials as salt, polymers, chemicals, grain, coffee, glass and more. The unit supplied was in carbon steel construction. To control the glass dust a special output enclosure was supplied with for integration with a dust filter system. An additional port was supplied for introduction of a negative pressure in the milling area as well. The unit also features serrated 10″ x 10″ rolls, variable roll gap, a hopper feed regulator, automatic spring overload relief, an over-sized hopper and an automatic electrical controller. Franklin Miller provides the ROLL MILL in a variety of sizes from 10″ x 10″ up to 20″ x 60″ in carbon as well as stainless steel construction.

Wastewater Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: TASKMASTER® TM8512 Twin Shaft Grinder Goes the Distance

The city of Longview, Texas Waste Water Treatment Plant treats the wastewater generated by approximately 100,000 customers. The plant handles an average of 15MGD with a maximum of 21 MGD and has the ability to handle 60MGD for short periods of time. The facility is a trickling filter/ activated sludge plant with tertiary filters and ultraviolet disinfection. Sludge is treated in four anaerobic digesters and subsequently dewatered. The effluent is discharged into the Sabine River and eventually flows into the Toledo Bend Reservoir. For the past 25 years, the plant has undergone various upgrades and expansions including the installation of a TASKMASTER® 8512 Twin Shaft Grinder. According to Scott Baggett, Utility Plant Manager, the unit, installed in 1999, has been extremely dependable and reliable. “The macerator continuously processes waste activated sludge from four final clarifiers,” he explained. “The sludge is pumped approximately 1200 feet to the macerator and then to the Primary Thickener.” The TASKMASTER TM8500 Inline is a high performance, twin shaft grinder that provides powerful size reduction capabilities, easy maintenance and exceptional durability. The unit features CUTTER CARTRIDGE® technology which increases unit strength completely and eliminates the need for cutter stack re-tightening. With the TASKMASTER TM8500, banks of individual cutters and spacers are replaced by the one piece CUTTER CARTRIDGE. By eliminating these multiple parts, maintenance is dramatically simplified. These cutting elements are machined from solid alloy steel or stainless steel using a proprietary manufacturing process. The result is a high strength grinder that has a remarkable resistance to cutter and spacer cracking. The cutters are installed on two counter rotating shafts, intermeshing one with another at close clearance to shear and shred solids into fine bits. One shaft feeds solids to the center of the unit while the other shreds them. The output achieved is easily processed by downstream equipment such as pumps, centrifuges, and belt filter presses. The TASKMASTER can be successfully installed in sewage treatment plants, sludge lines, and pumping stations. It is supplied for open channel or in-line applications Mr. Baggett recently expressed his satisfaction with the TM8500 “The unit was rebuilt in October, 2005. Since the rebuild, the macerator has been running like a champ!”

Wastewater Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: TASKMASTER® Alleviates Screenings Conveying Problem

The Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a thoroughly modern 65 MGD wastewater treatment plant, which uses the Trickling Filter/Solids Contact Process. Like many other facilities across the country, Central Valley is continuously challenged to meet the expanding water treatment demands of a growing residential and industrial community. With this growth has come a vexing problem for the plant. “We were experiencing more and more large objects coming into the headworks of our plant,” said Dan James, Maintenance Manager of Central Valley WRF. “There were huge grease balls, sticks, rocks, wood two by fours and every kind of garbage. We were constantly dealing with plugging of our conveying system that handles the screenings and major problems with our downstream equipment.” That’s when the plant called in Franklin Miller for a solution. A heavy-duty TASKMASTER® TM1630 screenings grinder was purchased. The unit was strategically placed between the discharge of the screens and the inlet hopper of the vacuum screenings conveying system. The TASKMASTER employs a twin shaft shredding mechanism with two banks of intermeshing cutters that easily grind even large screenings solids down to a size readily handled by the system. At Central Valley, the shredded output is discharged from the TASKMASTER, transported to another level and hauled off to a landfill for disposal. The TASKMASTER TM1630 is a heavily constructed 10HP grinder suitable for handling heavy solids accumulations. This unit employs 2-3/4″ hardened hex shafting, mechanical seals, direct inline gear drive, and special cleaning combs that assure the cutting chamber is kept clear. A model S260 Automatic Reversing Control reverses the unit in case of a jam condition. According to Mr. James, the unit has operated perfectly to stop the plugging in the screenings conveyance piping and has been instrumental in protecting downstream equipment. The TASKMASTER TM1600 series are powerful and versatile workhorses that can shred heavy solids in both gravity and liquid systems. The units can be installed horizontally with a stand, hopper or flange adapter, or vertically for channel or pipeline applications. Typical applications include gravity and conveyor fed sewage screenings, in-channel raw sewage, correctional institution effluent, documents, product rejects and returns, garments, filters, bottles and containers, plastics, turnings, packaging, wood, paper, and more. The TM1600 can be supplied with high profile cutters for grabbing solids that roll on others, or with ultra-fine cutters that finely reduce wastewater solids to a size easily handled by downstream equipment. Units are available in stainless steel construction in addition to standard alloy steel and iron body construction. Available input sizes range from 16″ x 20″ (400mm x 500mm) up to 16″ x 60″ (400mm x 1500mm). Recently, Mr. James received a call from another wastewater facility with almost the identical problem. He spoke to the engineer and highly recommended the TASKMASTER. “I told them that it does everything we need,” he concluded. These rag-laden grease mounds would float downstream and present a menace to the entire system. That was until they installed a TASKMASTER® grinder. Purchasing the TASKMASTER TM8516, a powerful grinding unit employing counter rotating banks of intermeshing cutters, made all the difference. The unit was installed right over the influent pipe, negating the need for a bar screen or a catch basin. When the debris entered the station, it passed directly through the grinder where it was ground up into small particles. As a bonus, the “aircraft carriers were completely destroyed and the grease was dispersed. Thereafter, it smoothly and easily passed through the pumps with no difficulties. “We’re very pleased with the unit,” said Mr. Balcom. “It has improved system operations, cut down on maintenance and is very reliable. We maintain it according to the specs and we’ve had no trouble whatsoever.”

Industrial Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: Taskmaster® Grinder Contributes to BioFuel Production

The Meadowbrook Dairy in El Mirage, California is part of a growing alternative energy initiative -the production of energy from renewable sources. In this example, the renewable source is manure provided by the dairy’s 2000 cows. Each day, 20,000 gallons of manure are collected, deposited and processed in an anaerobic digester. Methane is released which fuels a turbine that generates electricity. Enough power is generated to meet most of the daily needs of the 159 acre dairy. Size reduction of the raw material is an important first step in the process. The dairy has installed several TASKMASTER® TM8524 grinders which have proved to be extremely reliable and easy to maintain. “This macerator does a great job of processing our manure/slurry at the beginning of our anaerobic digester,” said dairy owner, Ed Imsand. The unit has made a big difference in gas production by creating smaller particles with more surface area for bacterial action. It has helped make more electricity and less green house gas emissions.” The environmental benefits of generating fuel from manure include cleaner air and water. Methane has a global warming effect 21 times that of carbon dioxide. Using methane for energy purposes significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. There are also benefits to the water shed, since manure that is used in the biogas process is not washed off land surfaces by rain and irrigation into local rivers and streams. TASKMASTER® grinders set the standard for effective solids reduction, reliability, easy maintenance and exceptional durability. These grinders are provided from small units that can be installed directly in pipe systems up to large shredders that feature 40, 75 and 100 HP motors for handling everything from solid waste and hides to tires and solid rocket fuel. These units are provided with Franklin Miller’s unique sealing technology which makes them uniquely suited for wet processing under pressure conditions as well as for dry gravity applications. TASKMASTER grinders are available with many innovative features including patented “cutter cartridge technology.” With these cartridges, multitudes of individual cutter and spacer disks are replaced with a few one-piece cutter cartridge units that greatly enhance strength and performance.

Wastewater Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: TASKMASTER® Grinder Saves Over $36,000 For Kirksville, Mo.

The City of Kirksville, Mo. had a problem. Their 25-year-old Smith and Loveless comminutor suddenly stopped working and could not be repaired. Their main bar screen could not handle the complete flow of the plant headworks at daily peak periods, which meant that unreduced solids could get into the plant’s downstream equipment and cause severe operational difficulties. The City found out that the replacement cost for a similar design unit was going to cost over $60,000.00, way over their budget. That’s when the plant personnel turned to Franklin Miller Inc. for help. It turned out the TASKMASTER® Duplex sewage grinder could be retrofitted into the same channel application for a fraction of the cost of the other offers received for the replacement. According to Ernest West, plant supervisor “the TASKMASTER Duplex was very simple to install in the same channel as the Smith and Loveless. The unit has been great! It has easily handled all the debris, solids and what not that comes down the channel.” The City not only received a channel grinder with far greater capabilities than their previous comminutor, but its cost was only half what they would have had to spend with their other choice. The TASKMASTER Duplex employs a twin shaft cutting mechanism that intensively grinds solids with counter-rotating cutters that intermesh at close clearance. The DUPLEX has two sets of these cutter stacks providing the added advantage of higher flow and solids handling capability. As the unit is 100 percent cutting area, it has greatly extended cutter life. The TASKMASTER also employs exclusive CUTTER CARTRIDGE® technology, the most advanced cutter design for twin shaft grinders available. This design eliminates countless individual cutter and spacer disks that tend to break down and cause excessive maintenance on competing units. Instead, each one-piece cartridge incorporates six cutters. The result is the unit has far fewer individual pieces, stronger cutting, and the elimination of cutter loosening problems.

Industrial Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: TASKMASTER® Grinder Solves Paint Problems for Automakers

A TASKMASTER® TM8512 grinder was recently installed at an automotive manufacturing facility. The unit was chosen as the most effective way to handle dried paint chunks that were passed through a four inch pipeline and deposited into a collection tank. Large pieces of paint debris often clogged the line and needed to be reduced to a smaller size. The TASKMASTER was attached to the line in the area at the bottom of the collection tank. Special “combs” were added to optimize the cutting and shearing of the paint pieces and to help remove anything that would stick on the cutters, spacers or shafts. On each pass or rotation, material that adhered was scraped off and pushed to the cutters again. The paint chunks were ground to desired output size of ¼ inch, flowing easily through the pipeline. The application at another automotive facility was to break up clumps that formed in paint agglomerates in a paint tank. The paint balls clogged the recirculating pump resulting in down time and frequent maintenance. To remedy the problem, the solution was to install a SUPER SHREDDER® SS8000 between the paint tank and the pump. Franklin Miller’s high performance grinders and shredders have been instrumental in solving size reductions problems at manufacturing plants worldwide. They easily process agglomerates, paint solids, food, chemicals, oil solids, pulp and paper, pharmaceuticals and more. They prevent pump and pipeline clogging, reduce downtime and maintenance and help increase plant efficiency.

taskmaster 8500 installation with piping

Industrial Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: Taskmaster® Grinder Solves String Problem

Essilor Labs of America, Omega Optical Laboratory in Dallas, Texas specializes in the production of state-of-the-art ophthalmic lenses. One of the products produced in the laboratory is a prescription lens composed of a polycarbonate material. The lens blank is generated using specialized CNC machinery. During the generating process, the machine sprays water based coolant on the lens to remove the waste material. The coolant and waste material is drained to a transfer tank which then pumps the coolant back to the primary coolant tank. The waste material is separated and augured to collection drums. At one time the production of the lenses was straightforward but with the implantation of the newer generating equipment the waste material’s geometry is significantly different than with the traditional lens manufacturing process. “It was a major headache,” said Senior Maintenance Technician, Brent Teichman. “Major problems developed with our coolant system when we converted it over to handle the new process.” The main problem was the stringy waste material created during the process. These strings would build up around the separation auger until the auger would lock up. Soon after that the drive belt would burn off and the system would come to a complete halt. We spent hundreds of man hours working on the string problem. If the auger wasn’t checked periodically and the strings removed then you could count on production going down. “We needed a solution and that’s when we turned to FRANKLIN MILLER,” said Teichman. “After reviewing our options, we purchased the TASKMASTER® TM8500 inline grinder. We saw an immediate difference. The unit chewed up the plastic strings into small particles which passed easily through the catch basket and the transfer pumps. During the initial installation we ran into flow problems which after speaking to our representative we realized that we needed gravity pressure to maintain a positive flow of coolant through the plumbing. We accomplished this by installing the TASKMASTER in the vertical position and placing the unit’s fluid chamber just below plumbing level, which completely solved the flow problem. “The TASKMASTER TM8500 has helped a lot,” Teichman continued. “We spend only thirty minutes a day cleaning out the basket. We don’t have to worry about replacing belts and pumps or production going down. Franklin Miller has been very responsive, providing good technical support and service. And the TM8500 appears to be pretty much maintenance-free,” he concluded.

Wastewater Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: TASKMASTER® Helps Make Sludge into Forest Feed

The Birmingham Wastewater Treatment plant in Kansas City, Missouri is an activated sludge treatment facility that processes 12.4 million gallons of wastewater a day. The facility processes and receives 21,000 dry tons of sludge each year, which is pumped to sludge holding basins. For the last few years, the facility, in partnership with the city, has participated in an innovative recycling project and sludge has played a major role. Its use as fertilizer on land adjacent to the treatment plant has begun to convert the area into forest. It appears to be an environmentally sound, cost effective solution to sludge disposal. There was a time, however, when processing the sludge was more of a nuisance than an asset. Plant operators were constantly dealing with maintenance problems caused by debris clogging the sludge pumps. Industrial and commercial operations near the plant were the main culprits, discharging large quantities of cellophane, plastic bags and other solid waste into the flow. To complicate matters, the facility’s existing grinders were not performing adequately and needed to be replaced. Franklin Miller was called in to provide a solution and conducted a thorough system review. Based on their recommendations, the plant installed six TASKMASTER® TM8500 series inline grinders in front of each primary and transfer sludge pump. According to the management, it was a very good decision. TASKMASTER TM8500 series inline grinders quickly and effectively reduce the toughest sewage and sludge solids to fine particles directly in pipeline systems. Along with innovative CUTTER CARTRIDGE® technology, these grinders feature a convenient drop-in housing. This unique design allows for fast and easy removal of the entire cutter mechanism for periodic maintenance without sacrificing unit strength. These powerful twin shaft grinders employ one-piece cutter cartridges that replace banks of weak individual cutters and spacers. The result is a high strength, durable grinder with a remarkable resistance to cutter and spacer cracking. This design dramatically increases unit strength, reduces maintenance time and totally eliminates the need for cutter stack re-tightening. The TM8500 has two counter-rotating stacks that intermesh at close clearance to shear and shred solids into fine bits. One shaft feeds solids to the center of the unit while the other shreds them. The output achieved is easily processed by downstream equipment such as pumps, centrifuges, and belt filter presses. The TASKMASTER can be successfully installed in sewage treatment plants, sludge lines, pumping stations, roadside or runway sanitary facilities, institutional waste, or small solid waste applications. It is supplied for open channel or in-line applications. The units are available for 4″ through 24″ pipe sizes.

Solid Waste Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: TASKMASTER® Chip Destruction System Solves Black Market Problem

A major “chip” manufacturer had a security problem. Truckloads of valuable chips were exposed to pilferage. Each drum of chips was worth more than it’s weight in gold, making it a tempting target. As a result, substandard chips were showing up on the black market. A solution was needed urgently. That’s when the company turned to Franklin Miller Inc for a solution. A complete TASKMASTER® chip loading and shredding system was developed and provided by FMI to solve the problem. This system consisted of a heavy-duty TASKMASTER TM2330 twin shaft industrial shredder with special tool-steel cutters. Also included was a feeder, drum dumper and load cell to determine when the discharge container was full. According to the project manager, “The complete system worked flawlessly.” He continued, “This system made a big difference to our security and cut down on black market activity.” Several additional systems were purchased for international plants. See Our Full Line Of Industrial Shredders

Solid Waste Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: TASKMASTER® Multi-Stage Shredding System Proves to be a Solid Solution for Pharmaceutical Plant Security

A pharmaceutical manufacturer was faced with major waste management concerns. They urgently needed a powerful shredding system capable of quickly and efficiently reducing bulky pharmaceutical rejects, packaging and literature to an unrecognizable condition. The company had recently purchased shredding equipment to replace older units, which were failing, but soon encountered unexpected problems. Pharmaceutical material passing through the carbon steel shredders often contained corrosive chemicals, which eventually eroded the units. A better solution was required and the manufacturer called on Franklin Miller for help. FMI engineers met on site with the plant manager, evaluated the situation and designed a multi -stage shredding system employing two reduction stages. For the primary stage, a powerful twin shaft TASKMASTER® TM2300 industrial shredder was used to quickly reduce copious amounts of large, bulky material. The output was then sent to a VULCANATOR® KM20 granulator for second stage, ultra fine shredding. In designing the system, very specific conditions had to be met. The shredders were constructed of corrosion-proof stainless steel, easy to clean and dust tight. The TASKMASTER industrial shredder featured a split body frame that allowed removal of each cutter assembly as one piece to simplify maintenance. The units were provided complete with common support stand, input and intermediate hoppers and completely integrated control system with an overload sensing controller. According to the plant manager, the TASKMASTER Multi-Stage Shredding System worked exceptionally well from the day it was installed. It was so successful that another pharmaceutical manufacturer, after a visit to inspect the system, purchased a similar one. “We’re very satisfied that we made the right decision,” he concluded. TASKMASTER Multi-Stage Shredding Systems offer powerful shredding capabilities and provide the most secure destruction for high volume applications. An innovative tandem arrangement incorporates a primary and secondary shredder or grinder, which can be configured to handle many special requirements. The units easily reduce very large or very tough solids en masse including bulk bags, medical waste, bottles and containers, packaging, cardboard, hazardous wastes, plastics, documents and labels and much more.

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