The Atlan Spillceptor has a two-chamber design because it helps improve water quality outcomes and provides higher levels of hydrocarbon removal, and the protection of the coalescer from silt which remains in the first chamber.
The first chamber in this type of design removes 90 to 95% of hydrocarbons from the initial mixture. The second chamber contains the coalescer, which is used to ‘polish’ the water. This second phase allows the remaining oil to separate from the mix. The coalescer allowing oil globules to conglomerate, which ensures a higher degree of final separation.
Single chamber designs still exist on the market, which combine the first chamber with the coalescer chamber. The lack of a second coalescing chamber means that under high flows, separation may fail and remain incomplete – allowing oil to remain in the mixture and contamination of water leaving the device.
This design inherently has a higher probability of non-compliant discharge during high-flow, heavy rainfall, or storm events as silt may be deposited in the same chamber as the coalescing unit. Without meeting their environmental commitments, site operators and stakeholders are at risk of compliance issues, and our environment is left vulnerable.
