Crown Equipment Corporation

Even small service centers can benefit from waste management.

The Company

Crown Equipment Corporation manufactures heavy-duty electric lift trucks used in trans-porting materials and goods in warehouses and distribution centers throughout the world. The Crown product line includes narrow aisle stacking equipment, powered pallet trucks, order picking equipment, and forklift trucks.

The Challenge

Crown was prefiltering their forklift wash water prior to discharging to the local POTW and compliance was becoming unachievable. The POTW performed monthly testing and charged Crown $200-$400 per month to verify compliance. Costly surcharges could be imposed for an out-of-compliance occurrence. The maintenance costs involved with the filtration system included: $3,000 per year for filter replacements, $15,000 per year for off-site disposal of filter effluent, and $4,000 per year for pumping and hauling the pit residue ($22,000 per year in maintenance fees!).

The task was to:

• Minimize operator involve ment with this disposal equipment in order to better utilize them on revenue generating processes.
• Eliminate sewer discharge and its accountability.
• Minimize operating cost and capital employed.
• Secure a solution with high reliability and consistent uptime.

The Solution

Samsco helped Crown determine the appropriate evaporator unit, as well as defined the expected reduction in volume and cycle run-time, by performing pilot studies on samples of the actual forklift wash water waste. A Samsco Series 500 Evaporator was indentified as providing the best solution.

The Result

By eliminating discharge to the sewer, Crown was able to avoid monthly testing fees and the risk of costly surcharges. The Samsco Water Evaporator at Crown operates at just $0.05 per gallon of water evaporated, costing only $2,500 a year for disposal. This is an estimated $19,500 savings per year! As an additional benefit, Crown increased the frequency of the forklift washing, consequently increasing their product quality. The labor required to operate the evaporator has proven to be minimal. The system has been in successful operation since March of 1999.

System Overview

Streams:	Forklift Wash consisting of solvent degreaser and cleaner
Model:	Samsco Series 500 Wastewater Evaporator (15 GPH)
Material of Construction:	Chloride Resistant Alloy
Energy Source:	Natural Gas
Reduction in Volume:	> 96%
Options:	System Process Control Automatic Fill Foam Detection Sensor
Footprint:	85.5” x 22.5”