Smart Elbow® deflection elbow eliminates blowouts

October 15, 2015 by Miaja Cornelius

When wastewater treatment plants experience blowouts, cleanup is costly. Of course, there’s the cost of labor and materials, but there’s also potential fines as well as the obvious health risk and safety concerns.

The Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority (UOSA) wastewater treatment plant in Centreville, VA, handles nearly 30 million gallons per day to provide potable water to more than 300,000 residents in northern Virginia. In order to raise the pH of the water to levels optimal for the efficient removal of bacteria and phosphorus, the chemical treatment system uses pebble lime. This material is conveyed non-stop 24 hours per day, 365 days per year — unless the system malfunctions.Conventional sweep elbows in the conveying system were failing with an alarming regularity due to the abrasive nature of pebble lime, and whenever a breach happened, the material was strewn far and wide, creating hazardous working conditions for plant personnel. Pebble lime dust was negatively impacting air quality inside the facility and blowouts made slip-and-fall injuries a very real possibility.

The situation was unacceptable to Robert Forgone, director of the UOSA operations and maintenance division. He was searching for a solution that would put a stop to wear-related elbow failures and the costs associated with cleanup, maintenance and replacement.

The Smart Elbow® deflection elbow from Hammertek proved a critical piece of the puzzle.

HammerTek and Cathey Prosolutions of Sykesville, Md., worked closely with Forgone and his team to identify the best solution to the problems UOSA was experiencing. The solution: five 45-degree , 4-inch elbows and nine 90-degree, 4-inch HammerLoy™ Series Smart Elbow deflection elbows were installed. The HammerLoy Series was designed to withstand the operating conditions of high-volume, high-wear abrasive environments.

Even after four years after the initial installation of HammerLoy Smart Elbow products, UOSA had yet to experience a single blowout in the system conveying pebble lime. With Smart Elbow deflection elbows, the primary source of lime dust in the facility has been eliminated — not to mention the hazardous working conditions that emerge when the dust is particularly heavy due to a breach.