FogBusters
FOG Removal Breakthrough

Treating wastewater containing Fat, Oil and Grease (FOG) can be a compliance headache and major cost burden. Now an entirely new FOG-removal technology called FogBusters has been deployed into the market impacting how food processors, renderers, biodiesel producers, and other industries face oil/water separation challenges and stringent discharge standards.

FogBusters is a low-cost, low-energy innovation that helps companies reach compliance goals, cut treatment costs and generate revenue from sales of recovered FOG. Pretreatment with a FogBuster system protects downstream municipal wastewater facilities from incoming FOG problems. In many cases, FogBusters is a better, greener, cheaper way to get the FOG out.

FogBusters are gravity-powered and chemical free. This makes FogBusters more economical than energy-intensive and chemical-based FOG-extraction technologies such as DAF (Dissolved Air Flotation) and centrifugation. As a practical matter, FogBusters is often a drop-in process installed upstream from existing DAF, centrifugation or biological treatment. In these cases, FogBusters does the “heavy lifting”—removing most of the FOG from the effluent—and the DAF or other downstream process systems then “polish” the FogBusters outflow. Performance of existing downstream wastewater systems is also increased since FogBusters complements rather than competes with other wastewater systems.

When FogBusters is installed in front of DAF, the flocculant chemical costs and sludge processing/disposal costs of DAF are dramatically reduced. The best part is the FogBusters system typically extracts the FOG in such a pure form that it is highly marketable for resale as feedstock for biodiesel . . . a classic “garbage to gold” win-win scenario.

“FogBusters is the first truly new FOG-removal technology in decades,” says FogBusters CEO Bradley Mart. “It is a breakthrough in high-volume, low-cost FOG removal and recovery that cuts compliance costs while generating byproduct revenue streams.”

The heart of a FogBuster is a proprietary chamber with a series of baffles and weirs whose precise geometry creates hydraulic forces that accelerate the separation of oil and water (or any two immiscible liquids) and expel the oil through a specially-engineered valve in the “ceiling” of the chamber. Expelled oil reaches a collection vessel via one or more chutes. The entire process is gravity-driven with essentially no moving parts. This simplicity minimizes maintenance. FogBusters’ relatively small footprint makes it ideal as a drop-in addition to existing treatment systems. FogBusters is available with a highly effective, proprietary solids-removal module.

FogBusters is a breakthrough in high-volume, low-cost, oil/ water separation that is fully compatible with existing systems

FogBusters attains compliance with regulatory standards for a wide variety of industrial waste streams on volumes from 25 to 350 GPM while also reducing carbon footprint. The units can be ganged in series or parallel for larger volumes. FOG levels below 100 ppm are typically achieved. “The Fogbuster makes water virtually oil-free and oil water-free,” says Mart. The FogBuster, fully automated with plant-integrated control systems, can also adapt to FOG surges of 50 percent to 100 percent oil content (as with an oil spill) when necessary.

FogBusters have been successfully deployed in a wide variety of food processing and rendering plants as well as in the petroleum and biodiesel industries. The patented technology is widely used to process industrial wastewater from manufacturers of pre-cooked (steamed, fried, roasted, microwaved, baked) meats and other foods, edible oil process plants, snack food and chips, chocolate, dairy products and baked goods, as well as renderers and meat and poultry processors. In some meat processing facilities, small FogBusters are installed inside cook rooms to capture valuable food-grade edible fats from drippings before the process water becomes wastewater.

Monogram Foods, a manufacturer and marketer of packaged and value-added foods, recently installed a large FogBuster unit that harvests five to seven thousand pounds of marketable FOG (yellow grease) a day. Ventura Foods, a national processor of edible oil products, has several FogBuster installations around the U.S. producing three to five thousand pounds of FOG a day for biodiesel feedstock. Both manufacturers benefit from reduced labor and operating costs plus concomitant savings in sludge removal and disposal while making their DAF and biological wastewater system work more efficiently. ROIs are typically 12 months for 20-year life systems.

FogBusters’ many other food processing customers include Cargill, Dairy Crest, Cadbury and Arla Foods. FogBusters has also been working with Greenergy on the biodiesel front and Chevron in petroleum applications.

Of interest to municipal wastewater facilities, FogBusters technology is available (under a retail brand name) in a simplified, scaled-down form used by restaurants and supermarket delis that serves as a “self-cleaning” grease trap, which automatically extracts FOG otherwise headed down the drain. These advanced grease traps treat effluent from sinks, rotisseries, and combi-ovens. Finding FogBusters to be the best available technology, some wastewater authorities actually require commercial kitchens to use the system. The system has thousands of units in place nationwide and a noteworthy clientele that includes McDonald’s, Yum! Brands, Costco, Sam’s Club, and Walmart.

Currently serving North American markets, FogBusters are also sold in Europe, Asia, and Australia under the brand name Recovered Oil (“RecOil”). “We have positioned ourselves as the best solution for high-volume, low-cost wastewater treatment, turning a painful cost center into a profit center,” says Mart.