The Difference Between Oil Separation And Grease Interception

Removing grease and oil from any wastewater your business produces is essential to protect the planet and to meet regulations. It needs to happen before any water gets discharged into the sewer. Different applications are needed with different industries depending on things like their grease separator installation. Talking to the experts who install and clean these systems is the best way to know what methods suit your operation. You might hear of people talking about grease interceptors and oil separators and wonder what the difference between them is so here it is.

A closer look at a grease interceptor

A grease interceptor is box shaped in appearance and has a solids section, a baffle plate and a separation section and is a basic method for separating both oils and grease from water. The separation section lets the oil float to the water’s surface and the baffle plate slows the down the water flow and so lessens how much turbulence there is. This then lets the solid grease drop out of that section and into the solids section.

To stop oil from being moved into the sewer discharge water is taken from below the surface of an outlet. The wastewater as a result is mostly free from oils and solids. With a grease interceptor, the section for solids needs to be cleaned out on a regular basis to stop clogging and blockages. When it reaches about 25% capacity it should be cleaned or you could set the cleaning schedule based on timing instead.

A closer look at an oil separator

When looking at oil or Fettabscheidereinbau this is a more advanced piece of equipment to separate water and oil. They have a structure internally that causes the oil droplets to come together. Water is held in the separator for longer than a grease interceptor does to give more time for it to occur. This leads to better success in removing oil from the steam. This option also has a much higher capacity so can be used in situations where there is a lot more water with a higher water flow rate.

It is important with an oil separator that quick break degreasers are used otherwise it stops the oil droplets from forming and parting from the water. This would then mean the separator is not effective and oil escapes into the sewer.

When is each used?

In cases where there is a chance of blockages grease interceptors are mostly used. This means places like restaurants and kitchens where fatty materials can solidify in the drains. Oil separator installation is used more in industrial situations where there is a chance hydrocarbons and oils can be carried to the wastewater. Examples include manufacturing sites, mining, car washes, service stations, industrial sites and workshops.

To summarise

• Ölabscheidereinbau put in separators that have the main function of removing from wastewater any liquid oil used mostly in industrial and manufacturing sites.
• Grease interceptors remove fatty solids primarily from waste water and are used mostly in commercial kitchens and such.