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How the Franklin Miller Dimminutor® Became an Olympic Winner
Wastewater Case Studies·February 23, 2017

How the Franklin Miller Dimminutor® Became an Olympic Winner

The Franklin Miller DIMMINUTOR® was selected for the state-of-the-art sewage system infrastructure project built to accommodate the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. After an intensive construction project, multiple Model DM36XF DIMMINUTOR® open channel comminutors were employed throughout the new sewage system. Each unit has the capability of 29 million gallons of raw sewage per day. As part of the preparation for the games, an advanced sewage treatment system in Sochi had to be built. Designed by Olimpstroy, the system is said to meet BREF standards and employ top available technologies including tertiary treatment with microfiltration. The advanced sewage plant is part of a series of state-of-the-art infrastructure projects that were built in preparation for the games. The extensive construction plan involved building and modernizing the telecommunications, power and transport infrastructure of the area, in addition to the construction of a new Olympic Park by the Black Sea coast. The DIMMINUTOR® reduces wastewater solids in open channel wastewater installations and wet wells. It was selected by virtue of its unique design that features reliability and ease of maintenance. The owner was shown a similar installation nearby and was impressed with the unparalleled design features of the unit. While other comminutors being considered required disassembly of the entire unit to replace even one of the many cutters, the DIMMINUTOR features only a few replaceable parts. Each cutter can be independently replaced without unit disassembly. Additionally, there are no mechanisms or seals down at the gritty channel bottom while other designs have bottom bearings and seals subject to wear from grit. Each DIMMINUTOR is equipped with a submersible motor. Unlike immersible motors, the submersible motor is designed to operate while submerged in water or sewage for unlimited time periods. “Franklin Miller is very pleased that the DIMMINUTOR was part of the Sochi Olympics with one of the largest installations in the world,” says Dave Schuppe, VP of Sales, Franklin Miller. Learn More About Our Wastewater Grinders

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Maximum Security with The Space-saving SPIRALIFT® SLV
Wastewater Case Studies·February 23, 2017

Maximum Security with The Space-saving SPIRALIFT® SLV

Due to the waste from the Northeast Correctional Facility, Alliance Water Resources, the wastewater treatment plant in Bowling Green, Missouri, was constantly having problems. The prison, which produces 300,000 gallons of water per day, was creating a deluge of problems for the pump station, including clogged and plugged pumps, excessive power draw and the need for continuous service and ultimate pump replacement. The inmates were flushing paper, jumpsuits, and all manner of debris – pretty much anything they could flush. It was costing the plant a lot of downtime and tons of money. Once the pumps started needing total replacements on a very frequent basis, costing the plant more than $30,000 each year, they knew they needed a solution. “We knew we had to find something better. It was beyond expensive to maintain and very difficult to stay on top of the almost-constant plugging,” Bo Stinnett at Alliance Water Resources. Because the pit was 35 feet deep, there weren’t a lot of options. As a matter of fact, Bo says, “The Franklin Miller SPIRALIFT SLV was the only machine that had the technology to take care of the needs we had in the space we had. Because we have another Spiralift in our plant that we’ve been running for years, we were confident in buying another Franklin Miller unit.” The Spiralift SLV was installed and the results were immediate: no more clogs, no more downtime, no more wasted manpower or replacing machines. “We check on it once in a while,” Bo said. “But that’s it. It’s working great and has proven to be very, very low maintenance. It has worked wonderfully for us.” The Spiralift SLV is a unique fine screen that conveys solids straight up. With its small footprint, it fits into tight places where no other screens can fit. This unit combines Task master® grinding technology with a vertical screw screen to provide fine screenings of solids entrained in liquid flows.

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Screenmaster® CS Bar screen Helps Township Weather the Stormwater
Wastewater Case Studies·February 23, 2017

Screenmaster® CS Bar screen Helps Township Weather the Stormwater

When the township of Little Ferry, New Jersey constructed a new bridge, it created a big problem. The bridge, constructed at a traffic circle in town, created changes to the road that left a drainage pond below the water level of the Hackensack River. The problematic effect this had was immediate as local neighborhoods were flooded on a regular basis. The town knew they had to fix this problem immediately and decided to install pumps to combat the flooding. Because the runoff was stormwater, the problem was compounded by the large solids such as leaves, branches, sticks and other debris that would enter the pumps and clog or even shut them down. After careful research, the DOT (Department of Transportation) specified a Franklin Miller Screenmaster® CS bar screen to protect the pumps. A complication was that the unit had to be installed while the system was running as the flow could not be shut off or diverted. The township installed a custom, oversized Screenmaster® CS bar screen, which fits in an 8 ft. wide, 20 ft. deep channel, with 13 ft. of max. water height and providing 239” of lift to the discharge. The unit was designed with a special bottom grating to handle the quantity and size of debris in the stormwater. The Screenmaster has been hard at work since its installation, filtering solids from the stormwater before they have a chance to reach the pumps, and helping keep Little Ferry flood free. The SCREENMASTER CS features a series of rakes mounted on oversized perforated rake baskets that clear solids from a stainless bar rack and lift them up and out of the channel. It’s easy to install in new or existing channels. The SCREENMASTER installs at a 75-degree inclination so it has a very small footprint. The design features a simple, continuous rotary motion. As the rake head passes through the bar slots collecting debris, it travels up the unit’s dead plate until it reaches a special scraper supplied with a dash pot for smooth operation. The screenings then drop out the unit’s discharge chute into a bin, conveyor or SPIRAL IFT SC screenings washing system. The unit is available in a variety of widths up to 78” wide (2 m) and for a lift height of up to 38 ft. (11.6 m).

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SCREENMASTER® CS Bar Screen to the Rescue at a Commercial Composting Plant
Industrial Case Studies·February 23, 2017

SCREENMASTER® CS Bar Screen to the Rescue at a Commercial Composting Plant

A commercial mushroom composting company in Pennsylvania needed help with a problem in their compost production process. The compost, made from hay, straw, horse manure, chicken litter, corn cobs and more, is processed on an eight-acre concrete slab, also called a wharf. The runoff from the rain and water used during the compost process washes off the wharf and into a pit and then travels through a pipe that carries it to the two-million gallon lagoon behind the wharf. From there, the company recycles the water by pumping it back to begin the process again. Unfortunately, the process wasn’t as smooth as they had hoped. Sediment and pieces of the organic material were continuously washing down into the pit and traveling to the lagoons, causing major clogs. This presented a serious issue for the company as it was slowing down their process, causing downtime, and making a mess of their lagoons. That’s when they contacted Franklin Miller for a solution. At the suggestion of Franklin Miller engineers, the company installed an all stainless steel mechanical bar screen called the SCREENMASTER® Model CS, which would automatically remove the debris. The unit was set up in the pit, screening the debris before it could get to the lagoons. “Before we had the SCREENMASTER, all that junk went into the lagoons,” said Andy Jones, who started this business over 25 years ago. “It was impossible to stop all that sediment from getting in there. It kept clogging the pumps and impellers.” “Now it stays nice and clean,”  Jones said. “We’ve had the SCREENMASTER CS for a few years now and we have no problem with the pumps at all. It’s simply a wonderful piece of equipment.” The SCREENMASTER CS features a series of rakes mounted on oversized perforated rake baskets that clears solids from a stainless bar rack and lifts them up out of the channel. It’s easy to install in new or existing channels. The SCREENMASTER  installs at a 75° inclination so it has a very small footprint. The design features a simple, continuous rotary motion. As the rake head passes through the bar slots collecting debris, it travels up the unit’s dead plate until it reaches a special scraper supplied with a dash pot for smooth operation. The screenings then drop out the unit’s discharge chute into a bin, conveyor or SPIRALIFT® CS screenings washing system. The unit is available in a variety of widths up to 78” (2 m) wide and for a lift height of up to 38 ft. (11.6 m). LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SCREENMASTER CS BAR SCREEN

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The TASKMASTER® TITAN® saves time and worries
Wastewater Case Studies·February 23, 2017

The TASKMASTER® TITAN® saves time and worries

The Roseland, NJ pump station is one of the largest high-flow stations feeding into the Caldwell Wastewater Treatment Plant. The pump station originally used a trash rack in the channel coming into the station. This arrangement made it necessary for a worker to climb down into the confined space once a day to access and empty the trash rack manually. This was a very time-consuming process and was expensive for the station to keep up with such frequent manual maintenance. By installing the TASKMASTER® TITAN®, the challenges were instantly resolved. The brand new machine was installed in front of the bar rack. This eliminated the manpower needed and a big portion of their day that was spent manually maintaining the system. The TASKMASTER TITAN is a workhorse that can handle such heavy objects as sanitary wipes, rags, shoes, blocks of wood and many different items that find their way into wastewater systems. The Titan is a powerhouse and is working well at handling the high flows. The station has no more maintenance issues at all. Its unique design features two cutter stacks. One stack intermeshes with a second one that has oversized cutters. The result is unsurpassed grinding performance, durability, superior solids feeding and high flow capacities. “Time was saved, and worries were saved,” said Ray Cornetto who worked with the installation of this machine. “The TITAN is a powerhouse and is working well at handling the high flows. The station has no more maintenance issues at all.”

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Union Township, NJ Automates Pump Station with TASKMASTER®
Wastewater Case Studies·February 23, 2017

Union Township, NJ Automates Pump Station with TASKMASTER®

Union Township, New Jersey was having a lot of trouble with their pump station. Although a small pump station, it was extremely cumbersome to maintain. The station was using a trash basket with a ladder and rail system to screen solids. This was extremely time-consuming, used an excess of manpower and proved to be ineffective at times. They knew they needed a better solution. Because Franklin Miller had successfully retrofitted a competitor’s machine in the past, the Township of Union, Department of Public Works decided to approach FMI for a solution. The county removed the trash basket when Franklin Miller fabricated a machine and components to fit directly in the same space while still using their current rail system. “It was an extremely easy installation for us,” said Ray Cornetto, who worked on the installation. “There were no issues installing this machine and there have been no issues with running it.” He went on to report that the Franklin Miller TASKMASTER TM8500 series not only solved the issue of manpower, but automated their “We no longer have to clear the basket. This automated system has made everything simple. The station is checked once in a while and that’s it. They can move on to the next job.”

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delumper product image
Latest News·August 18, 2016

DELUMPER® Bulk Bag Unloader (BBU) Unloads and Conditions Product

The DELUMPER® Bulk Bag Unloader (BBU) is a heavily constructed system designed for convenient unloading materials even if they contain lumps and agglomerates. This unit employs a gyrator to effectively fluidize the materials for dependable discharge from the bags. Then, a heavy-duty built-in DELUMPER crusher conditions and freshens the product. The result is an effective pre-engineered unloading and product conditioning system built to DELUMPER quality and dependability standards. The BBU is designed for trouble-free operation and is supplied with a rubber-coated nylon flex sleeve and rubber isolators, allowing the machine to run quietly and with low vibration. An electric hoist with pendant allows for easy mounting of the bulk bag and a valve is supplied for controlling the discharge flow rate. The DELUMPER BBU’s streamlined design is designed for low maintenance with very few moving parts and rugged construction throughout. The unit’s DELUMPER Crusher features heavy-duty construction built to the highest quality standards. The crusher features a one-piece body, low noise or vibration, precision construction and effective shaft seals. It is available in several styles in either carbon steel or stainless steel construction. The system is supplied with a control system that fully integrates all functions. Options for the DELUMPER BBU Bulk Bag Unloader include sanitary finish, full stainless steel construction, discharge flexible screw conveyor, load cells for weight metering, auxiliary manual bag dump built-in to feed small batches and ingredients, and special sizes and engineered solutions to meet specific requirements.

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VULCANATOR® Reduces Full Rubber Bales to Granules; Minimizes Heat Rise

VULCANATOR® Reduces Full Rubber Bales to Granules; Minimizes Heat Rise

Size-reduction machinery manufacturer Franklin Miller Inc. has filled a necessary niche with its equipment designed for the rubber industry, most notably the VULCANATOR® brand granulator, which can reduce rubber without typical heat build up. “The machine employs a unique low friction, low-heat-rise design, eliminating the need of many granulators for expensive auxiliary cooling systems,” said Franklin Miller President William Galanty. “The VULCANATOR also significantly reduces subsequent processing time, dissolving processes and manufacturing costs by reducing the rubber to the desired size,” he said. “The units can be built in stainless or carbon steel, for wet or dry processing,” he said. The equipment also may include a pneumatic discharge system and cyclone separator. “Depending on the model, the VULCANATOR can reduce 75-pound to 90-pound bales of rubber at varying rates of speed,” Galanty said. The four model sizes range from the 40-horsepower KMIO up to the 250-hp KM50, with the KMIO handling somewhat smaller sheets, slabs, chunks and rejects. “During the reduction process, material is fed into the unit by conveyor or by hand, and rugged rotary knives pull it into the cutting area and disintegrate the slabs to a size fine enough to pass through a special sizing screen. The machine controls the output by the screen size, which acts like a classifier and recirculates the particles until they reach the desired size,” Galanty said. “Franklin Miller was founded in 1918 in East Orange, N.J. as a producer of ice crushers and ice cream freezers. It services a variety of customers, including rubber manufacturers and companies that make products from natural and synthetic rubber, tire recyclers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, adhesives producers, plastics makers, waste processors and more,” Galanty said. “The VULCANATOR’s applications include integration into a conveying or dissolving system for rubber manufacturing, as well as a primary or secondary granulator for materials other than rubber,” Galanty said. It’s also been used as a secondary sizer installed below the company’s TASKMASTER® brand twin-shaft shredders and for recycling purposes. “The VULCANATOR has a unique market,” the Franklin Miller executive said. ”The domestic rubber industry has been slow. However, for manufacturers looking for the savings gained from improving efficiency, this unit can pay for itself in short order.” The firm has tested a wide variety of natural and synthetic rubber materials and the unit has “handled them all beautifully,” Galanty said. “The main material issue is that the rubber not be too sticky before reduction,” he said. “The VULCANATOR is a niche product,” he said, “but it serves an important service to the rubber industry.” “Franklin Miller’s other rubber industry machinery includes the TASKMASTER and the DELUMPER®, which is used for breaking up crumb rubber and rubber agglomerates,” he said. “The company, now on its third generation of family ownership and employing up to 50, also houses a VULCANATOR and other equipment at its in-house testing facility for trials on customer materials,” Galanty said. In addition to standard equipment, Franklin Miller can supply custom designs or complete turn-key systems, with the objective of increasing processing speed and reducing waste and costs. Besides rubber, the firm’s broad line of equipment is used in applications such as plastics, chemicals, waste handling and wastewater treatment.

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DIMMINUTOR® Saves Monterey County Time, Money, and Manpower
Wastewater Case Studies·September 22, 2015

DIMMINUTOR® Saves Monterey County Time, Money, and Manpower

The pump stations at Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency (MRWPCA) were having a problem with their channel grinders. The twin-shaft, drum-style channel grinders were used in the ten pump stations in the region that feed into the main Monterey Regional plant. The plant is located in northern Monterey County, California, on 100 acres, and has a capacity to treat 29.6 million gallons per day. It receives 18.5 million gallons of water each day from the 250,000 people it serves, and uses a primary treatment processes of physical separation using a bar screen and settling tanks, and a secondary treatment of using microscopic organisms found naturally in the environment. The pump stations were having major trouble with the channel grinders. They were constantly breaking down and needing to be rebuilt. It was causing a lot of downtime, extra manpower, putting a strain on their maintenance budget, and interrupting their treatment process. They knew they had to replace the machines with something better. That’s when they turned to Franklin Miller, to learn more about the DIMMINUTOR®. “When we heard about the stack cutter assembly in Franklin Miller’s DIMMINUTOR, we wanted to learn more,” Bret Boatman, Maintenance Supervisor, said. “The fact that the DIMMINUTOR has no bottom bearings was very attractive, as the bottom bearings on the other company’s units kept giving out.” Once they installed the DIMMINUTOR, the effect was immediate and dramatic.   “We have so much less downtime and maintenance costs on the new machines. Ordering, installing and using the DIMMINUTOR has been very straightforward.”  Over the past seven years, the plant has switched out eight of their old twin-shaft units to the Franklin Miller DIMMINUTOR. The DIMMINUTOR provides automatic screening and grinding of liquid-borne solids with a straight through open channel design. This unit reduces plastics, wood, vegetable matter, disposables, and other oversized items to a fine particulate. The DIMMINUTOR’S unique design, heavy precision construction, dependable operation and simplified maintenance have earned it a solid reputation amongst operators and specifying engineers worldwide. The unit has been specifically designed to handle tough wipes which have been a significant issue for plants nationwide. The DIMMINUTOR is designed for reliable operation and easy maintenance. For example, with its cantilevered design, the DIMMINUTOR needs no seals or bearings near the gritty channel floor. The unit’s screen is stationary so it never wears against bottom grit. Each cutter is interchangeable and cutters can be removed or adjusted independently. The unit’s seals and bearings are immersed in an oil bath for long life and low maintenance. “The experience with Franklin Miller has been great, from the machines, of course, down to ordering parts and the exceptional customer service.”

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delumper 5-shaft crusher
Industrial Case Studies·August 31, 2015

Custom DELUMPER® LP 5-Shaft Crusher Fits in Tight Location

When a major global leader in agricultural products needed help reducing wet and sticky agglomerates in a very tight plant location, Franklin Miller was ready with a custom solution. The customer produces phosphate, nitrogen and potash, three critical crop nutrients and provides fertilizer to growers worldwide to make their crops thrive, so they can produce more high-quality food to meet the growing global demand. When the company began having problems with their phosphate production, causing the material to agglomerate and clog their equipment, they knew they would have to find a solution. Acid and ammonia are added to phosphate to make it granular, causing the material to be sticky and wet and prone to agglomerates. “Because of these sticky lumps and agglomerates, we had a lot of downtime in the plant. Our processes were interrupted, and it was just a mess,” said the company’s project manager. Franklin Miller engineers designed a crusher for the customer’s phosphate production. This custom DELUMPER®  model LP employed 5 shafts to reduce sticky and wet agglomerates, reducing the size of the lumps while handling the high volume of material effortlessly, something no other machine could do. One of the most important properties to the folks at the plant was about how to maintain the machine in place, and the 5-shaft DELUMPER LP allows them to do that. Franklin Miller engineers employed in the design special split bearings and seals to allow for easy independent removal of each shaft. “The accessibility to replace parts without moving the machine was a key aspect for us. We can easily replace or service one shaft or another without changing the other shafts, or without removing the machine from operating. It has really increased productivity when we need to do maintenance.” After leaving the DELUMPER®, the material goes into the dryer and screens. Any out of spec solids are sent back through the entire process and run through the DELUMPER® again. DELUMPER LP Crushers reduce hard or soft, heat sensitive, sticky or wet agglomerates and lumps at high volume. These straight-through units employ extended cutting teeth that rotate completely through a heavy bar cage. Oversized solids up to the unit’s full input opening size are reduced by this powerful processor. With each rotation, the teeth clean the slot openings, making the unit automatically self-clearing. Optional hardfacing is available. “The DELUMPER® has made such a huge difference in our process. It’s easy to maintain in place which means less downtime for our plant and more product yield. The DELUMPER® is an invaluable part of the company's phosphate production.”

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delumper crusher in polymer plant

DELUMPER® Aids in Polymer Production

Steel Fire Equipment in Ontario, Canada needed help with their polymer production. The plant produces polymer for fire extinguishers. The pneumatic production system processes chemicals that often clump and sometimes even form into stone. They needed a crusher that could break up these chunks or the material would not flow through the system and the entire process would come to a halt. Steel Fire also needed the machine to be able to handle their production rate of 3000 – 4000 pounds of material a day and be powerful enough to break up very hard chunks. After researching possible solutions, they found that the Franklin Miller DELUMPER® crusher could meet their needs.  The dry chemicals are fed into the DELUMPER in either 100 kg sacks or in 25 kg or 50 kg bags.  Lumps can often be as big as a fist and very hard. “It works great,” said Andy Fill, purchasing manager. “Even with the challenges the material often presents, there is no problem with the DELUMPER doing exactly what we need.” The DELUMPER® L Series Crushers reduce product to a desired output size with a positive, once-through, chopping action. Cutting teeth mounted to a smooth drum rotate through sizing combs to process agglomerates and chunks and reduce oversized particles to their basic grain size without over-grind, heat rise or fines. DELUMPER Crushers reduce lumps, crush minerals, improve product consistency, facilitate mixing, drying and conveying, and keep process lines running smoothly. These units have extraordinary processing capabilities on a wide range of materials including chemicals, sugar, food, minerals, urea, ammonium nitrate, salts, colors, plastics, pharmaceuticals and more. DELUMPER L Series crushers typically utilize specially designed teeth mounted on a smooth, rotating drum to intermesh with sizing combs, reducing solids to their basic grain size without overgrind, heat rise or fines. Lumps up to full inlet opening size can be processed. The unit runs at low speed and creates little vibration or noise. The unit has worked well for Steel Fire for more than a decade. Says Andy Fill, “We have had no problems at all with the DELUMPER.”

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delumper machine installed

DELUMPER® Crusher Plays Important Role in Float Glass Production

Guardian Industries Corp.’s float glass plant in South Carolina was in search of a crusher to aid in their glass production process. They needed a unit that could break up the electrostatic precipitator material and prevent pneumatic transport plugs. Without the efficient breaking of these lumps, the process was interrupted, wasting time and money. The process for float glass production consists of mixing sand, soda ash, limestone and other raw materials in a batch house, then melting them in a glass melting furnace. The “continuous ribbon” is formed in the tin bath, where they “float” the molten glass over molten tin and form it to a continuous ribbon of glass of specific widths and thickness to be cut to customer requirements. The company chose a DELUMPER® Model 1077L , based on its simple, clean design. They installed the DELUMPER lump breaker in their pollution control electrostatic precipitator. The particulate matter is collected by the electrostatic precipitator and pneumatically transported to a storage silo. The pneumatic transport is sensitive to clumps. The DELUMPER was installed before the pneumatic transporter in the process to reduce plugging problems associated with clumps entering the transport system. About 6000 pounds of material passes through the DELUMPER each day. The unit operates continuously, breaking up pieces as large as a grapefruit. “Prior to the installation, the transporter was plugging 1-5 times per week. Since the installation of the DELUMPER, the system has not experienced any plugging,” said Eric Rouse, Hot End Manager. The DELUMPER® L Series Crushers reduce product to a desired output size with a positive, once-through, chopping action. Cutting teeth mounted to a smooth drum rotate through sizing combs to process agglomerates and chunks and reduce oversized particles to their basic grain size without over-grind, heat rise or fines. DELUMPER lump breakers reduce lumps, crush minerals, improve product consistency, facilitate mixing, drying and conveying and keep process lines running smoothly. These units have extraordinary processing capabilities on a wide range of materials including chemicals, sugar, food, minerals, urea, ammonium nitrate, salts, colors, plastics, pharmaceuticals and more. Lumps up to full inlet opening size can be processed. The unit runs at low speed and creates little vibration or noise. “We are very happy with the DELUMPER. It has eliminated 1-5 plugging events per week. Each event was an hour long tear down and clean out of the transport system. The DELUMPER has saved us manpower as well. Aside from some preventative maintenance, the unit has been very reliable.”

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