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All News Blog (15) Industrial Case Studies (20) Latest News (35) Solid Waste Case Studies (6) Wastewater Case Studies (42)

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® 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.

Solid Waste Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: TASKMASTER® TM8500 – Shreds Plastic With Ease

Problem: A major chemical company had a problem with safe disposal of contaminated plastic trays. The plastic trays needed to be cleaned and separated from the contaminated material and then shredded to a size that could be easily disposed of. Solution: The plastic trays were washed and separated from the hazardous material and the cleaned plastic was shredded to the required size in the TASKMASTER® TM8500 Shredder. The TASKMASTER TM8500 Industrial Shredder is a heavy-duty, highly versatile disintegrator that requires minimal maintenance. The TM8500 Shredder reduces tough solids with an effective low speed, high torque twin-shaft shredding action. It features a unique CUTTER CARTRIDGE technology. The multi-tooth CUTTER CARTRIDGE® combines individual cutter and spacer disks resulting in marked increase in cutter strength. The result is the reduction of the need for maintenance such as stack retightening and increased longevity. The TASKMASTER Industrial Shredder is equipped with hardened alloy steel hex shafts and an extremely reliable mechanical seal system. The cutting chamber could be supplied to up to 60″ long. Options include flange adapters that convert the unit into a powerful inline processor. SEE OUR FULL LINE OF INDUSTRIAL SHREDDERS

Solid Waste Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: TASKMASTER® Shredder Aids Remediation

Problem: A major New Jersey consumer product company was faced with a problem. Their facility was going to be replaced. The warehouse was filled with damaged containers of detergent that needed to be remediated. The plastic half-gallon containers, in corrugated boxes, along with other miscellaneous materials, such as; wood, glass, and broken pallets had to be safely disposed of before the facility was torn down. Solution: The company hired an Environmental Waste Remediation organization to properly destroy and dispose of the off-spec product. The fluids in the container had to be safely disposed of without endangering the local sewer system. The off-spec product was introduced into the hopper of the TM2300 shredder by an end-loader. After the material was shredded, the solids were separated from the liquid and disposed of properly.The TASKMASTER® TM2300 Shredder used for the application has a fully enclosed dust-tight body of heavy structural steel. Hardened and ground cutter disks and spacers ride on two parallel hex shafts. These cutters counter-rotate at differing speeds intermeshing one with another. The exclusive split-body frame design allows easy access to the cutters. This feature allows fast removal of the complete cutter assembly as a whole from the top of the unit. The powerful TASKMASTER Shredder is designed to shred solid waste in a broad range of applications with minimal maintenance. The TM2300 line of TASKMASTER Shredders successfully reduces bulk up to 80%.

Wastewater Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: TASKMASTER® TM8540, an Inexpensive Solution to an Expensive Problem

Guelph, a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada is known as “The Royal City”. With a low crime rate, clean environment and generally high standard of living, the city with a population of 114,943, is consistently rated as one of the country’s best places to live. The Wastewater Services Division operates the 17mgd activated sludge plant, which provides tertiary treatment, discharging to the Speed River. Biosolids are anaerobically digested and mechanically dewatered. They are then applied to agricultural land, further processed within the facility’s composting systems, or landfilled. Over the past few years, the city has initiated a number of projects including upgrades to the water treatment facilities and wastewater treatment plant. They also have commissioned and built two sewage pump stations incorporating the newest technology. “I was the project manager for building those pump stations,” said Majde Qaqish, Project Engineer at the City of Guelph. “They were the first of their design in the City. We encountered a problem at one station, the pipe’s incoming flow (40 feet below ground) was offset 18” from the inlet trash basket at the wet well.” To solve the problem, several solutions were considered. Reinstall the pipe at 40 feet deep, a very costly option, requiring major, time consuming excavation work. Replace the sub pumps with grinder pumps, another very costly option (major mechanical and electrical work). Place a channel grinder at the inlet of the wet well. “Finally after careful review and 12 months of meetings, we decided to go with the third option,” said Qaqish. “This option was the most feasible and cost effective. We then reviewed which channel grinder would meet our specifications, comparing prices, availability, and support.” The plant ultimately purchased a Franklin Miller TASKMASTER® TM8540 Channel Grinder and according to Qaqish it was the right choice. “To this date and after 24hrs/7 days a week of operation for a total of 2 years we have not had one single issue with the running of the channel grinder (mechanical or electrical),” he concluded. “The continuous support and the training that was provided by Franklin Miller was most outstanding. As a result, the City is now considering placing another TASKMASTER Grinder in the Sewage pump facility in lieu of the trash basket.”

Wastewater Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: True Submersible Motor Ends Repeated Grinder Motor Maintenance Problem

The Franklin Township Sewer Authority had a repeated problem with an immersible motor on one of their grinders that was subject to flooding. The Authority runs a pump station collection system in Somerset, New Jersey that handles 6 mgd of domestic and industrial wastewater. Grinders play an important role, finely grinding up incoming debris. This allows the wastewater to pass easily through the pumps and pipelines to the treatment plant. But at one of the pump stations the sewage grinder was supplied with an immersible type of motor that was a cause of reoccurring problems. “The grinder was a bad engineering decision for that particular location,” said Assistant Superintendent, Scott Nocero. “The motor on the grinder we chose was immersible only as were the replacement motors. During heavy rain storms, the station’s wet-well was often flooded and we had to replace the motor several times. I did some research and my thinking was that if you install a truly submersible motor, you will not have to deal with the problem over and over again.” “I became acquainted with Franklin Miller after two of our other pump stations installed the TASKMASTER® TITAN® Duplex grinders that feature submersible motors,” said Nocero. “I spoke to the Franklin Miller salesman who told me I could retrofit our grinder, even though it wasn’t a Franklin Miller, with a submersible motor. And that’s what we did.” “The motor was custom fit to our grinder with some parts that were made in- house,” Nocero continued. “Everyone was very helpful, expediting everything because they knew the urgency of having a working grinder. Since the installation there have been no issues and no problems.” “We’ve been very satisfied,” he concluded. Franklin Miller’s submersible motors have unique design and construction features that make them suitable for fully submerged operation in up to 200 feet (61m) of water and sewage as well as continuous in air operation under full load operating conditions. This provides an optimal solution for trouble-free grinder operation in applications subject to flooding. Unlike immersible motors, FMI true submersible explosion proof motors offer dependable, submerged operation in either continuous or intermittent use. These motors are designed to provide high mechanical integrity under adverse operating conditions for maximum life and minimum life cycle costs. Their design requires no internal or external liquid cooling system. These (IP68) motors are suitable for grinders and comminutors as well as other applications, as defined by the National Electric Code as Class 1; Division 1, hazardous locations section 501-8 (a) requiring submersible explosion proof construction.

Industrial Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Crusher Takes Its Lumps, Minimizes Elbow Grease

CCP, Inc. in West Paterson, N.J. makes over 1,000 product formulations under private labels for the cosmetics industry, using materials such as persulfates, alkali silicates, phosphates, sodium chloride, and magnesium chloride. The producer processes powder sizes from 20 to 200 mesh, and bulk densities “vary greatly,” according to operations vice president Walter Shepherd. “We produce some talc powders that run just a couple of pounds (per cubic foot),” he said. Previously, for production, raw materials were received in bulk bags or drums, which were then dispensed from bag discharging stations by auger feeders to load ribbon blenders. Material in drums were manually dumped into the blenders, where they were blended, milled and reblended. “Some crushing processes get quite complicated.” Shepherd said. “The material is brought in, checked, blended, and ground to the prescribed size. It’s then post-blended, rechecked, reground, sprayed with ingredients such as conditioners or surfactants, analyzed and packaged. Deagglomerating was inefficient. Many raw materials are prone to caking or agglomerating prior to arrival at CCP, and need to be deagglomerated before processing. To do so in the past, the agglomerates were prescreened or manually removed. “The results were good but it was labor intensive,” said Shepherd. “And there was some waste because material wouldn’t always break up or go through the screens.” After the lumps were discarded, more material was added to make up for them. Production was halted during the processes. CCP decided to install a deagglomerating crusher to streamline the process and sought a crusher that could break up large agglomerates in one pass with minimal particle attrition or heat rise. In the course of their search, CCP received recommendations from three sources for a Franklin Miller deagglomerating crusher, Shepherd said. “Based on these recommendations, we went with Franklin Miller.” CCP chose to install a Franklin Miller DELUMPER 1075-L deagglomerating crusher, a common choice for food, pharmaceutical, and chemical applications. The unit handles several agglomerate shapes and sizes, including chunks, slabs, sheets, and flakes. Typical materials processed are resins, waxes, salts, foods, fertilizers, filter cakes, and tough or soft chemicals. At CCP, the crusher exceeded expectations by successfully breaking up the agglomerates to a specified particle size in one pass with minimal particle attrition and a gentle process that didn’t generate significant material heat rise. Shepherd said production is more efficient because the crusher gives a “dramatic saving over the manual deagglomerating method. The crusher decreased downtime and production delays, and it increased annual output. In batches where agglomerates were a problem, throughput has increased by 75 percent.” The crusher has also relieved some concerns when receiving raw materials because the producer doesn’t have to worry as much about agglomerates. In addition, Shepherd said the crusher operates well and requires little maintenance. View our other crushers here.

Wastewater Case Studies·February 5, 2015

Case Study: Grinder Saves The Day At Shickshinny Sewage Treatment Plant

The Borough of Shickshinny Sewer Plant faced a major operational problem. The plant, which has been in operation since 1979, services mostly residential areas, parts of two boroughs and a neighboring prison. It uses an activated sludge, secondary treatment process to process 500 MGD. Even though Shickshinny’s plant had a grinder located in front of the pumps, their pumps were still jamming frequently. The great deal of time and effort being expended to regularly maintain the pumps was becoming an unacceptable burden. The plant also had a comminutor. According to the plant supervisor, “it was an old type comminutor and wasn’t very effective. It just didn’t do the job”. In spite of all this equipment it was still necessary to regularly rake solids from a manual bar screen. That’s when the plant personnel turned to their consulting engineer for advice. The engineer focused his attention on the operation of the grinder. It turned out this unit just wasn’t strong enough to effectively handle the load and prevent overtaxing of the pumps. A new grinder was decided upon. The new unit, a TASKMASTER® TM8540, was designed for heavier duty service than their previous grinder. The TASKMASTER employs counter-rotating banks of intermeshing cutters to intensively reduce waste solids. Just as the time came to start up the new unit, the situation at the plant became critical. Only 15 minutes before the planned startup, the second of two pumps began to threaten to shut down. Since one pump was already out of operation, another failure would have caused serious trouble and the plant personnel were feeling the pressure. That’s when the service engineer from Franklin Miller Inc. arrived. He was informed that the successful operation of the new unit was critical. After going through the necessary start-up procedures and inspecting the installation, the new grinder was energized. The results were immediate. To everyone’s relief the unit lived up to its reputation and was truly impressive. The pump problems simply disappeared and manual bar screen raking was discontinued. According to plant operator, Mark Gensal, “The unit performed perfectly. It has been great. It relieved 95% of our problem, as far as pumps jamming up.” He further commented “I really recommend it to anybody. It is very well constructed, hardly any maintenance. It is fantastic.”

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