70 pounds of sludge

[mooseman]

This weekend I cleaned my home made solids tank for the second time.
First time was only two months use and not much work. Recently after about  8 months and some decent business I got a hell of a surprise. 70 freaking pounds of sludge mostly solids from emulsion judging from the color.
The pic shows the inside of a 35 gallon container. There were 3 distinctive layers of sludge.
the bottom was the most dense about 3 inches thick and suprisingly absent of water to spite being totally submerged. the second layer not as dense but still pretty compact.
the 3rd layer about the consistency of ink about 50% solids & 50% water.
All in all about 13 inches thick and 70 freaking pounds.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x296/copdaddy/TANKPICMARCH20128MONTHS.jpg

[mk162]

Parfaits have layers!!!!

Actually, that looks like trident layers, did you taste it?

[mooseman]

Parfaits have layers!!!!

Actually, that looks like trident layers, did you taste it?

NO.............it actually smelled like a lot of paper mills I used to call on, brought back some real stinky memories when the 380 degree sodium hydroxide would eat all the lignin in the wood chips...... PU

[tonypep]

Interestingly enough Sodium Hydroxide is the active ingredient in burnout paste, some hardeners, and Drano
tp

[mk162]

do the paper plants smell like rotten tomatoes?  We used to fish in a lake that was near a paper plant and that was the smell we would always pickup over there.

[mooseman]

do the paper plants smell like rotten tomatoes?  We used to fish in a lake that was near a paper plant and that was the smell we would always pickup over there.

yes and no depends on the process recycle mills are different than pulp mills are diffrent from fully integrated mills.
the tomato smell most likely caome from a bleching mill where thay use chlorine strong chlorine to turn brown paper bag stock fro example into white copy paper. that brown to white process is 100% a reaction from chlorine bleach under pressure and temperature.
the liquor that remains after bleaching, pulping and such is called black, green and white liquor the reclamination process from black to white liquor using alkline solutions  is a whole nother set of aeromatic pleasures.
paper mill always however smell like money to a salesman

[mooseman]

Interestingly enough Sodium Hydroxide is the active ingredient in burnout paste, some hardeners, and Drano
tp

also called caustic soda it is what dehazes our screens ...bad for your lungs!!!!!!!

[Gilligan]

Great... now I feel like I REALLY need to make one of these things!

[Denis Kolar]

It looks like McDonalds chicken nuggets 

[Dottonedan]

This weekend I cleaned my home made solids tank for the second time.
The pic shows the inside of a 35 gallon container.

This is one of those things you don't her that much about. I was dreading having to do this because I don't know anything about what I need or how one hooks something like this up. Is it just a bucket under the sink?  Can you buy one? Who sells them etc.?

[mooseman]

we use a settling tank see pics below. bought it at a farm supply . It is heavy 32 gal plastic fiberglass reinforced seed container.
The process is simple the solids settle out to the bottom, dirty but solids free water skims off the top and gravity does all the work there are no moving parts. We are a small shop and find that we get about 6-8 inches of muck at the bottom of the bucket that we muck out once or twice a year as required and send to the solids to landfill.
the process would work the same for much larger shop you would simply require a larger receiver tank. the key is retention time in the tank and gravity skimming off the high water line.
Hope the pics help.


http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x296/copdaddy/DSCF6670withnotes.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x296/copdaddy/DSCF6655withnotes.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x296/copdaddy/DSCF6654withnotes.jpg

[Gilligan]

Is your dip tube perforated or anything?

[mooseman]

Is your dip tube perforated or anything?

NO........The dip tube is not it is just a length of 1 1/2 in standard pipe.
The secret or special feature is the 1/2 in vent tube we built into the elbow that is connected to the dip tube.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x296/copdaddy/DSCF6654withnotes.jpg
The only "special feature" is the elbow vent to prevent  air from the drain line (we have a very long drain run) pushed to exit the end of the dip tube. This would retard the solids and water entering the tank and worse yet serve to agitate the water in the tank as the  air bubbles through.
 

[Gilligan]

My question is what happens when/if the solids reach the bottom of the dip tube as it looks like they almost or just did.  Wouldn't that plug things up and cause it to back up the system?  Or does it kind of "washout" an area around the tube enough to keep it from plugging up?

[mooseman]

Yea that is kinda the idea when the drain flow backs out the vent or i see solids in the out line I know it is time to muck