Understanding Grease Traps — What They Are and How They Work
When you think of the sewage systems of an entire country the amount of fat and grease that enters these in a year is ginormous, to say the least. In fact, in countries such as the UK (United Kingdom), this amount is said to be in the region of half a million tones. Grease sticks to the walls of pipes and this eventually leads to blockages. Such oil and fats also damage equipment used for treating wastewater thus costing municipal bodies millions in repair every year. If such FOG (fats, oils, and grease) enters the natural waters they can cause the environment some serious damage.
What are grease traps?
In simple terms, a grease trap can be defined as a receptacle through which wastewater — this contains FOG of course — flows before it enters the drainage systems. The receptacle is designed in such a way that it can trap or intercept the FOG while permitting the clear water to run through itself. These traps have been in existence for over a century now and are also referred to by other names such as the following:
· grease interceptors
· converters
· catchers
· grease recovery or management devices
· FOG traps
They are used widely in almost all kinds of commercial establishments.
How do these grease traps work?
All grease traps, including your kitchen grease trap, work on the principle that vegetable oils, or grease, and animal fats are 10–15% less dense than water and that they do not mix with the latter and so they tend to float on top of water. When wastewater gets into such a trap the flow rate is reduced to such an extent that the wastewater gets sufficient time to cool and get divided into three separate layers. Inside the interceptor the grease rises to the top and a system of baffles is used to trap it.
Grease traps can be categorized into three broad groups — passive hydromechanical or mechanical grease traps, gravity grease traps, and automatic grease traps. The passive systems are the traditional ones in this regard and are used a lot in smaller commercial establishments. The automatic systems are also referred to as AGRUs (automatic grease removal units) and they use only a few of the principles that are used by the manual devices as well. No matter what kind of grease traps you buy make sure that you get it from the best brands in the business such as Ashirvad Pipes.
