Problem solving

Removing oil and fuel residues

Mobile oil sludge suction unit in tractor production

Over half the tractors manufactured in Germany come from the John Deere factory in Mannheim. In 1956, John Deere took over the Heinrich Lanz AG tractor works in Mannheim where the legendary Lanz Bulldog, a single-cylinder tractor with its characteristic large flywheel, was produced. Since then John Deere has produced 900,000 tractors in Mannheim. In the last 10 years John Deere has invested nearly DM 300 million in modernising and expanding its production facility.

Wherever tractors are built and tested, diesel fuel and engine oil are not far behind. It is not always possible to avoid small spillages or to prevent dripping of fuel and engine oil. As a pro-active, environmentally-aware company, John Deere takes all the precautions necessary to ensure that these pollutants do not make their way into waste water. As part of these precautions, the company regularly vacuum cleans the gutters and drainage channels, indoors and outdoors, at its production facility.

For this job, cleaning contractors G.I.T. use a vacuum unit, tailor-made for this particular application by Ruwac-Industriesauger GmbH. Ruwac's standard product range is modular and not surprisingly it was not difficult for the company to build a vacuum unit customised to the exact specifications of this application.

One of the modules used is the Ex-proof version of the DS 1400 vacuum unit, designed specifically for vacuuming up inflammable substances. This vacuum is one of Ruwac's best sellers and designed primarily for vacuuming dusty waste. At John Deere, the DS1400 is used for handling liquids and fluids. It is therefore fitted with a pre-separator which holds back the fluid media in the first treatment step.

All oil sludge and fuel residues in the waste material is collected in the 100-litre container of the pre-separator module. A level float indicates when the container has to be emptied. Emptying is done with the Ex-proof drum pump built-into the unit. The waste material is then disposed of in accordance with the regulations regarding oily wastes.

This Ex-proof vacuum is used to clean all the drainage channels on the company site and must therefore be mobile. Full mobility has been guaranteed by mounting the system components - the DS 1400 vacuum and the pre-separator - on a single trolley frame. It goes without saying that the trolley also is fully Ex-proof.