Arbortech Washer Washers: Q&A Blog with Ray Graffia Jr.
What exactly is a “Washer Washer”?
Washer Washer is what we named Arbortech’s series of wash water recycling and oily wastewater treatment devices. Most mishmash oily wastewater streams along with essentially all water-based cleaning solutions are candidates for treatment and/or recycling, from aqueous metalworking fluids to parts’ cleaners, including floor wash and all forms of mechanized parts’ washing – from pressure sprayers to commercial washing systems like those built by folks who are likely to be exhibiting at FABTECH 2016! Since our initial market focus was to wash wash water and, in so doing, enable literal recycling and reuse, Washer Washer (WW) seemed to be a catchy way to describe the concept!
How complex is the chemistry involved?
Other than restorations (cleanings) for the membrane filters that accomplish the separation of good stuff from bad stuff, there is no chemistry involved. This is a mechanical process and not a chemical one. Think of your skin, it passes “water” when our pump (heart) runs fast enough and long enough during exercise or excessive heat, but still retains blood, organs, bones, etc. Same with WWs, where water and non-spent cleaning chemistry passes through a super tiny barrier under the pressure of a circulation pump, while oils, soils and spent cleaning fractions are retained for concentration and removal from the cleaning process. Here’s a link to see a sample processed: https://youtu.be/K5TXzZrfxX8. This test work was done for an aerospace prospect that now has one WW in each of two plants (CA & AR) and another one “in the works”.
How does a Washer Washer work in conjunction with a parts washer?
A parts’ washer’s objective is to clean parts. As oils and soils accumulate, however, the effectiveness of cleaning may diminish due to an ever-increasing contamination loading. WWs tie into the wash tank on a side-stream basis (think of kidney dialysis), taking snarky stuff out on a continuous basis and returning cleaner cleaner, thereby, over time, bringing wash solutions back and then maintaining them at/near initial purity. As a result, consistently clean parts from day one and potentially in perpetuity. Without recycling in use, cleaning effectiveness may be great for a while, followed by pretty good, then perhaps passable but, eventually, there inevitably is an increasing level of rejects. At that point, “Uh-oh – better do something!” is quickly followed by dumping the solution and making up a fresh batch of cleaning chemistry. Recycling ensures that parts remain in that good to great range of cleanliness every single day!
How does investing in filtration save money for your typical Washer Washer user?
Let me generically share some things recently received from a company who sent us their operating costs. Here is a link to an Excel calculator we offer so the reader can see where savings can be made. In that recent submittal of data referred to in this paragraph’s first sentence, the calculator projected they’d save: >15,500 gallons of water per year; close to 2,000 gallons of chemistry; ~26 work days of labor; the energy to heat the cleaning tank only ~5 versus 31 times annually; nearly $10,500 in haul-away charges, and so on, to the tune of paying back a ~>$40K recycler in less than 10 months. That does not even take savings into account from any of the following:
- Reduction/Elimination of regular chemistry additions to boost deteriorating cleaning effectiveness
- Increasing oil content in residuals from the Washer Washer, sometimes to a point where a hauler/reclaimer has taken away far less leftovers but at a lesser charge per gallon
- Where folks are treating this wastewater in-house = operational savings and, even more importantly, the savings of their WWTP operator’s sanity
- Many WWTP operators have shared with us that their worst days occur every time a wash tank or cleaning solution is dumped — from the deleterious effects such cleaning chemistries have on their normal WWT methods
- Reworking costs for parts that do not pass muster
I have no doubt that one day – and it’s already starting in Southwestern USA – this decreasing availability and increasing cost of quality water will lead to many more installations in the coming years/decades. As we experience drought-like conditions nationwide/worldwide and, as a result, find ever-decreasing levels of quality water available, I can even foresee recycling eventually becoming mandated by regulators as a Best Available Technology. It makes sense now; it’ll make more later!
How did you get interested in developing water filtration technology and was this your first career?
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