Sludge grinders are inline processors that play an important role in the successful operation of wastewater treatment plants by reducing oversized solids that can causing jamming and damage to pumps and process equipment. Franklin Miller grinders are known for their heavy-duty capabilities and innovative designs with models available for a variety of application requirements.

Overview

Sludge processing is often the most costly, capital intensive and operationally difficult part of the treatment process. Sludge can be difficult to process and is made more so by the inclusion of foreign solids.

Pumps, centrifuges, belt filter presses, nozzles, trickling filters and digestors are all subject to frequent maintenance problems and downtime - even where there is fine screening at the headworks.

Super Shredder® - inline sludge grinder - protects pumps in California installation.

Typical Problems

Small fibrous solids tend to re-weave into larger and larger rag mops which can cause a significant problem for pumps. In some cases these solids can destroy the pump impeller, or cause premature impeller wear. They can also overwhelm the pump power or corrupt the seals and eventually cause catastrophic mechanical seal feature.

Pointy, irregular and oversized solids can damage dewatering equipment, tear expensive filters and damage sensitive centrifuge drums. Nozzles can be plugged by oversized solids.

Twin-Shaft
Spherical Rotor

The First Inline Sludge Grinder

Harold Galanty invented the first sludge grinder with the introduction of Franklin Miller Inc.'s Pipeline Delumper® in 1970. When wastewater plant operators found there was an inline disintegrator that could reduce blockages directly in pipelines already working well in the chemical process industry, they started installing them in wastewater plants.

Many of these units are still operating in wastewater plants as well as chemical process plants worldwide.

The US Navy also employed the Pipeline Delumper® on hundreds of Navy frigates to process their wastewater.

Today, a variety of sludge grinders are offered by Franklin Miller designed to accommodate differing requirements.

TASKMASTER® TM8512-04 - inline twin-shaft sludge grinder - with control in background.

Sludge Grinder Designs

The main grinder design include:

►Twin-Shaft Grinders: Use intermeshing cutters on two counter-rotating shafts. Low speed, high torque gear driven.

► Spherical (Hollow) Rotor: A single rotating hollow-centered, spherical rotor has cutting edges around its perimeter that intermesh wtih a stationary bar cage. Low speed, high torque, dual rotation.

►Rotate Plate and Knife: Similar to meat grinders, the solids pass through a perforated plate and are cut by a blade rotating at high speed. Best for light duty applications.

Sludge Grinders' Other Names

Other names for sludge grinders include: macerators, mazerators, disintegrators, munchers, monsters, inline comminutors, chewers and shredders. They all refer to units that reduce the size of sludge solids through aggressive mechanical size reduction.

Franklin Miller offers an arsenal of processors optimized for specific applications.