An operator of a wastewater treatment plant that processes nearly 180 million cubic feet of municipal and industrial wastewater annually, also operates an on-site incinerator that burns nearly 10,500 tons of sludge each year. In addition, waste oils are delivered to the site to be burned.

These oils are dirty and have abrasive suspended solids. They were being sprayed into the incinerator through lances by two gear pumps. Since the waste oil is so abrasive, the gear pumps wore out every month and had to be overhauled. Labor and materials costs amounted to $35,000 per year.

Two Hydra-Cell® D35 seal-less pumps replaced the gear pumps. With its seal-less design, this Hydra-Cell model can handle abrasives up to 800 microns in size. As a result, service intervals have been extended to two years without any breakdowns.