Water Treatment Specialist Surfcleaner Supplies One Of World's Largest Iron Ore Mines

• SurfCleaner has supplied specialist water treatment technology to one of the largest underground iron ore mines in the world.
• The colossal mineral deposit was formed following intense volcanic activity resulting in an ‘ore body’ roughly 4km-long and 2km deep.
• SurfCleaner’s Nordic Sales Manager Niklas Gedal said two SCO 1000 devices have now been deployed at the site - within the mine’s water treatment facility - helping drive greater operational efficiency and environmental standards while slashing back on maintenance and management costs.

“Electric machines are used extensively in mining, and they require consistent cleaning due to a build-up of grease and hydraulic oil,” he said. “The client we have recently supplied performs this task in a washing hall deep underground, where used water is transported through pipes to an API separator in the mine's water treatment plant. One of SurfCleaner’s SCO 1000 devices is located in the API separator to help manage the first stage of the water treatment process. Here, it collects, separates and empties oil and grease into an IBC tank around the clock. Another SCO 1000 device is used in a second API separator, further along the process, collecting thin layers of remaining oil. The separated oil is pumped into a container and later collected by an oil recycling company, while the purified water can be reused as process or wash water. The ability to reuse both oil and water is a major win-win for the circular economy.”

SurfCleaner’s technology has essentially replaced the former oil filtration system and eliminated an entire stage of the water treatment process between the API separators. By comparison the oil filter solution was expensive, cumbersome and hard to maintain.

The first SCO 1000 device is currently separating around 1 cubic meter of oil per week, while the second device is deployed when required removing any remaining oil from the API separator within a single day. As such, the mine operator is able to avoid the 800km round trip with vacuum trucks to transport oil-damaged water to third-party treatment facilities.

“We are delighted to be actively demonstrating the benefits of SurfCleaner’s devices to the global mining sector,” added Mr Gedal. “This has been a fascinating project which has led to modifications to our own technology, specifically geared towards use in underground mining environments, which experience high volumes of abrasive media like sand and gravel. This includes the development of protective screens which collect and reduce inflow of unwanted debris. We are currently delivering several more demonstration projects and having identified major growth potential we hope to support many more mining operators by delivering immediate cost saving, operational and environmental benefits.”

For more information, visit www.surfcleaner.com

About SurfCleaner
SurfCleaner designs, develops and manufactures the world’s first hybrid skimmer separators for removal, separation and recovery of contaminants floating on the water surface – oil, diesel, petrol, floating sludge, and more. The SurfCleaner technology is unique; by combining variations in inflow velocity and direction with gravimetric separation, the process is very efficient – keeping pollutants from accumulating on the surface and therefore help minimising greenhouse gas emissions.

SurfCleaner makes it possible for water treatment plants to solve floating sludge problems and achieve a more effective and stable treatment process. We help refineries, industries and recycling companies to recover oil, diesel and petrol from contaminated water and significantly reduce VOC, CO2 and methane gas emissions. SurfCleaners can also be used for swift removal of oil in ports, rivers, lakes, mines and oil pits. Future models of SurfCleaner will remove microplastics and algae in rivers, ports and coastal areas and make the oceans cleaner.

The principle behind the technology is Stig Lundbäck’s discovery of the human heart’s Dynamic Adaptive Piston Pump (DAPP) functionality. He built on DAPP to invent and develop the SurfCleaner – but he also applied other universal laws of physics from the nature and the universe, such as gravity, equilibrium, variation in rotation velocity in the centre and the periphery, different density, and more.

This makes the SurfCleaner a truly natural machine, working in concert with the laws of nature, instead of trying to combat them. All we do is enhancing gravity by setting the liquid in vertical and horizontal motion inside the body of the SurfCleaner – creating a circular inflow at the top, and an outlet at the bottom – the rest is just pure physics. The SurfCleaner needs no pump, no powerpack, no hydraulics, no pneumatics. That is why the operation of the SurfCleaner is so efficient and cost-effective; we just put the forces of nature to work.

SCO 8000 benefits:

• Automatic removal and separation of oil with up to 100% separation capability
• Recovers oil with a water content of less than 5%
• Capacity to collect and separate up to 8,000 liters of pure oil per hour
• Continuous operation: 24 h per day, 7 days a week, with minimal service requirements, even over l ong periods of time
• Energy and cost-efficient operation with low maintenance, enabling substantial cost savings
• Easy handling, installation and service
• ATEX/EX certified for Zone 0

SCO 1000 benefits:

• Portable, easy to move and handle by one person
• Requires no pump, no power-pack, no hydraulics, no pneumatics
• Low power operation on-grid or off-grid via mains or battery
• Remote control via smartphone/tablet
• Automatic removal and separation of oil with up to 100% separation
• Recover the oil with a water content of less than 5%
• Separate up to 1,000 liters of pure oil per hour
• Continuous unmanned/remote operation with minimal service requirements
• No noisy generators needed, allowing recovery in sensitive areas
• ATEX/EX certified for Zone 0

SCW 6000 benefits:

• Automatic removal and separation of floating sludge from wastewater
• Minimizes the need for manual cleaning and use of water when floating sludge is accumulated
• Capacity to collect and separate up to 6,000 liters of sludge per hour
• Continuous operation: 24 h per day, 7 days a week, with minimal service requirements
• Energy and cost-efficient operation with low maintenance, enabling substantial cost savings
• Easy handling, installation and service