The belt skimmer consists of a motor with drive wheel, frame with deflection pulley and one or more circulating belts or O-rings. The deflection wheel and the lower part of the belt are immersed in the liquid. The floating oil adheres to the belt and is transported by the belt to the plastic scrapers, where the foreign oil or other contaminants are removed. In this way, expensive cooling lubricants are cleaned and operating costs are reduced.
Installation
Due to its design, this compact oil skimmer type can be attached to the tank from above or from the side. This means that even very narrow and obstructed tanks can be served. This skimmer is easy to install and can be put into operation in just a few simple steps.
Areas of application
The belt skimmer is only suitable for smaller tanks, as the belt only reaches a small surface area because, unlike the hose skimmer, it does not float on the entire tank surface and can therefore mainly only pick up the oil that is in the immediate vicinity of the immersion area on the belt and can therefore only work effectively in small tanks with a small surface area. Tanks with larger surface areas would create so-called dead zones that the belt cannot reach and are further contaminated with tramp oil. Under these conditions, the use of a hose skimmer would be more effective, as this type of oil skimmer does not create such dead zones. The hose skimmer concept of covering the entire tank surface with a floating hose is the most effective method if an appropriately sized tank is available.
Alternative skimmer
The design and therefore the disadvantages of the belt skimmer are similar in concept to the belt skimmer. The only difference is that one skimmer uses a belt and the other a belt. Depending on the size of the skimmer belt and the number of belts, the surface to which oil can adhere differs, which makes the respective variant more effective and more oil can be removed per unit of time.
Advantages:
- Small and compact device
- Inexpensive
- Can be mounted both from above and from the side
Disadvantages:
- Low flow rate
- Does not create a flow on the surface
- Only reaches a very small area of the surface
- Bath level may only fluctuate by max. 10 cm
- Scrapers are destroyed by particles
- Sludge can block the drain
Summary:
The belt skimmer is intended for smaller tanks where only a low flow rate is required. Belt skimmers are often used for small coolant tanks and, like all other skimmers of a different design, ensure a longer service life for the cooling lubricant.
As belt skimmers are only used in smaller tanks, the purchase price in some cases is just a few hundred euros. Due to the longer running time of the cooling lubricant and the associated savings, this investment pays for itself after a short time and this helps to reduce operating costs.
More about the other types of oil skimmers:
You can find more detailed information on oil skimmers here!