Ultraspin are the preferred and trusted supplier to major mining companies in both greenfield mines and brownfield sites in South Africa, Australia & Worldwide for oily water treatment solutions. We’ve supplied over 200 oil/water separators to premium South African mining companies such as Exxaro, Transnet, Anglo & BHP
Will Ultraspin Oil Separators cope with a harsh mining environment?
Tough, robust and built to last, Ultraspin separators are a powerful ally in wastewater treatment in South Africa
Our team of oily water engineering experts will provide their knowledge in many areas of project development, from what to look for when assessing oil water separator requirements on a new site, through to detailed design and supply of solutions.
Typical oily water sources within Mining operations include:
- Workshops
- Heavy and light vehicle washbays
- Lube bays
- Fuel storage areas
- Refuelling bays
Mining Operations that have these facilities include:
- Mine and mine site processing facilities
- Mineral processing
- On site power stations
- Rail services
- Port facilities
Why are Ultraspin treatment systems for oily mining water so popular with mining companies?
Our systems offer powerful robust oil separator designs backed by unparalleled experience and knowledge.
- Modular design – easy deployment and upgradable as discharge requirements change
- Rugged design – constructed to withstand the toughest environmental conditions – it’s built to last!
- Integrated controls – incorporate into site monitoring systems with in-built shutdown to protect pumps
- Remote monitoring (optional) – get immediate alerts when your discharge is at risk of non-compliance
- Large oil storage tanks included – collect large volumes of oil to decrease collection frequency
- Large, oversized, heavy duty debris strainer included – easy to operate and clean. Large capacity giving long intervals between emptying the strainer basket
As the Worldwide mining landscape ebbs and flows, Ultraspin works with you to develop new mine site design or find the best solution for mine site upgrades to ensure full compliance.
Your Objectives:
- Evaluating and selecting oily water technology
- Writing scope of works
- Compiling specifications
- Completing design of oily water treatment system
- Completing design of surrounding infrastructure – e.g. pits, sumps
How we can help:
- Conducting seminars on oily water science for your project/design team
- Assistance with writing scope of works
- Assistance with writing specifications based on oily water expertise
- Providing evaluation criteria to effectively compare oily water solutions
- Completing design of effective oily water treatment system
- Providing recommendations on pit/sump design
Your objectives and needs:
- source a separator to treat oily water to the specified standards
- find a low cost option
- a solution that is easily incorporated into your existing infrastructure
How Ultraspin can help:
- Site audits and testing
- Customised system design that is ‘plug and play’ for your site
- Assess and recommend improvements to re-use or discharge practices
With the Ultraspin Oil Separator, your wastewater will be cleaned quickly and efficiently.
How does the Ultraspin Oil Separator remove the oils?
Oily water is pumped into a precisely engineered tapered pipe, creating a vortex generating 1,000 times the force of gravity. Under such force the heavier water is pushed to the outer edge of the vortex and discharged from the the smaller end while the lighter oil moves to the centre of the vortex and dispelled from the broader end.
It has no moving parts, rarely needs cleaning, works much faster than gravity, and is powerful enough to treat even 15 micron oil droplets!
Find out more about Ultraspin Separators
There is one thing you must know before choosing an oily water separator: what size oil droplets do you have?
It is a fundamental question, as it will determine what micron rating you require and therefore which separator type will be suitable for your application.
Need more info on micron rating?
Case study
BHP Mount Whaleback, WA
Mining – wash bays, workshops, fuel/oil storage, stormwater
The BHP Mount Whaleback site has been in operation since 1968 and is one of the biggest iron ore facilities for the region, processing more than 30 million tonnes per year.
In a recent push to bring all the nearby BHP sites up to the same standards, the older Mount Whaleback site needed a complete overhaul of its oily water treatment systems. The decision was taken to route all dirty and oily waste water to one central location for treatment.
Ultraspin worked with BHP to design a system that would provide a two-stage separation process to give extremely high levels of oil removal. Typically the oily water would include oils, greases, lubricants, detergents, dirt and rocks. Treatment would allow the water to be re-used in wash bays, evaporated or discharged to the environment.
The first stage is discharge into a settling pond where heavy sediments are allowed to fall out prior to oily water treatment. The Ultraspin system consisted of a high concentration oil separator for the first stage of treatment, basically controlling spills up to 100 litres that might overload downstream equipment. After the first treatment, oily water with lower levels of oil is discharged into a second pond where it is collected and treated by a second Ultraspin high performance separator. From here the treated water is discharged into a storage pond. The collected oil is stored in two decant tanks capable of holding a total of 15,000L.
The two-stage oily water separation system designed by Ultraspin has given the site the highest level of wastewater treatment for all BHP sites in the region. It has the ability to continuously treat 100m3/hr of oily water down to well below their license discharge limit of 15mg/L.
In a climate of increasingly tighter environmental standards, the BHP Mount Whaleback site is now at the forefront of water treatment with Ultraspin’s hydrocyclone oily water separator technology.
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