SCREENING

EQUIPMENT
HANDBOOK
SCREENING
EQUIPMENT
HANDBOOK
for industrial and municipal
water and wastewater treatment
SECOND EDITION

Tom M. Pankratz

CRC P R E S S
Boca Raton London New York Washingon, D.C.
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Main entry under title:

Screening Equipment Handbook: For Industrial and Municipal Water and Wastewater
Treatment-Second Edition

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I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
For Michael H. Pankratz
 Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Preface xiii

1. SCREEN APPLICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Electric Power Generation 1
Wood Products Industry 3
Miscellaneous Manufacturing and Processing
Irrigation Projects 4
Water Treatment Plants 4
Wastewater Treatment Plants 5
Combined Sewer Overflow 5

2. TRASH RAKES . . . . . . . . .............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Cable Operated Trash Rakes 9
Chain-Operated Trash Rake 13
Hydraulic Trash Rake 14
Overhead Grab Rake 18
Rotary Brush 20

3. TRAVELING WATER SCREENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Thru Flow Traveling Water Screens 24
Dual Flow Traveling Water Screens 24
Thru Flow-to-Dual Flow Retrofit 30
Screen Variations 35
Screen Components 41
viii Table of Contents

Traveling Water Screen Design and Selection 73

Fish Screens 82

4. DRUM SCREENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Double Entry Drum Screen 93
Single Entry Drum Screen 98
Pump Suction Screen 98
Disc Screens 102

5. PASSIVE INTAKE SCREENS . . . . . . . ..

Radial Well Intake Screen 108

6. BAR SCREENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,111

Reciprocating Rake Bar Screens 112
Multi-Raked Bar Screens 128
Catenary Bar Screens 139
Other Bar Screening Equipment 142
Bar Screen Components 148
Bar Screen Selection and Sizing Procedures 154

7 . FINE SCREENS . . . . . . .......

Filter Screen 160
Static Screens 168
Rotary Fine Screens 171
Helical Basket Screen 177
Disc Screens 179
Vertical Drum Screen 180
Brush Raked Fine Screen 180
Other Fine Screens 182

8. SCREENINGS HANDLING AND DISPOSAL

Conveying Systems 183
Screenings Washers 188
Screenings Compacting 190
Screenings Grinding 190
Bagging 196
 Table of Contents ix

9. COMMINUTERS AND GRINDERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,197

Cornminuters 197
GrindersIMacerators 201

10. MICROSCREENS.. . . . . . . . . .... . . . ...

Applications 205
Mesh 208
Drum and Support Frame 208
Backwash Spray System 2 11
Supplemental Mesh Cleaning 2 11
Drive and Controls 212
Sizing and Process Considerations 2 12

Appendix 1: Screening Equipment Manufacturers 2 15

Appendix 2: Right or LRft Hand? 233

Appendix 3: Open Area Equations 235

Appendix 4: Selection of Materials 237

Appendix 5: Abbreviations and Acronyms 245

Appendix 6: Conversion Tables 251

Glossary 257

Bibliography 273

Index 281
 Foreword

W HEN it was first published in 1988, Screening Equipment Handbook

fulfilled a real need: at last, engineers and operators had a useful ref-
erence that identified the large variety of screens available for water and
wastewater applications. Screening seemed simpler then, and most screens
had rather narrow, clearly defined roles.
Screens could be neatly divided into easy-to-categorize groups. Most in-
channel screens had coarse openings. Most fine screens required pumping
and resulted in higher than desired headlosses. Some wastewater treatment
plants were still designed without any screens at all! The uses and misuses
of screens seemed reasonably clear, and Screening Equipment Handbook
reflected this.
The last six years have brought many changes to the screening equip-
ment industry. The screens that were once precisely and simply catego-
rized are now available in a bewildering variety of designs, sizes, and
types. As a result of ingenuity, an increased interest in pollution preven-
tion, the beneficial use of biosolids, and increasingly stringent legislation,
the once-clear delineations that included opening size, design, and usage
classifications have become blurred.
More consultants are designing municipal wastewater plants in in-
novative ways, such as substituting fine screens for primary clarifiers.
Screens known for their use in pulp and paper mills now regularly appear
in wastewater plants attached to vegetable processing facilities.
It's easy to become confused when considering which type of screen
might be best for a particular application. There's so much available in the
marketplace because the predictable childlike screening market has
become an adventurous adolescent. This revision of the Handbook is
timely and reflects the many changes that the industry has undergone.
When you have a new project to consider, use this updated book as your
reference. Keep your eye firmly on your project's goal and draw on the ex-
perience of consulting engineers, respected manufacturers, and their rep-
xii Foreword

resentatives. You'll find there's a screen to help you accomplish your goal.
From protecting downstream equipment to capturing by-products for
resale, from designing a new grass-roots plant to shoehorning a new
screen into an old plant to expand capacity, today's screen market offers the
solution you need, and this book will help you identify your options.

ROBINREDDY
Lake Blufi Illinois
 Preface

T HE first edition of Screening Equipment Handbook was published in

1988 and was the first comprehensive reference to review the water and
wastewater screening equipment industry. The industry has since under-
gone many changes. Although these changes may not reflect startling new
technological advances, they do include improvements in overall screening
efficiency, reliability, and economics.
The objective of this second edition of Screening Equipment Handbook
is to summarize the available screening equipment options and provide a
consolidated source of basic design and application information to assist
the engineer in selecting a screen best suited for the particular application.
Although every chapter has been completely updated, significant
changes have also been made to the chapters dealing with trash rakes and
fine screens, and new chapters have been added to introduce screenings
handling and comminuters/grinders. Many new photographs and diagrams
have been added to illustrate equipment designs and product features, and
the number of entries in the Manufacturers' Directory has been almost
doubled to include more than 115 up-to-date names and addresses of equip-
ment manufacturers.
The book is divided into chapters that describe specific types of screen-
ing or screening-related products. Chapter 1 reviews common screening
equipment applications and identifies the types of screens most frequently
employed in each. Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 review trash rakes, traveling
water screens, drum screens, and passive screens, respectively. These
screens are most frequently associated with the screening of raw intake
water. Bar screens and fine screens are covered in Chapters 6 and 7, which
emphasize the use of screens in preliminary and primary wastewater treat-
ment applications. Chapter 8 introduces screenings handling products.
Although some of these products have been available for several years,
their use continues to increase and represents one of the most significant
xiv Preface

changes in wastewater screening. Chapter 9 describes comrninuters and

grinders and their use in the water and wastewater industry, while Chapter
10 reviews microscreen design and application. The appendices include a
variety of information that I have found helpful over the years.
After completing the first edition of the book, I continued to find new in-
formation that hadn't been included. I frequently wished that publication
had been delayed for one or two months, or more. When I mentioned this
to my son Chad, he wisely directed me to the following passage from
Hemingway's Death in the Afernoon:

I was not able to write anything about the bullfights for five years-and I
wish I would have waited for ten. However, if I had waited long enough I
probably never would have written anything at all since there is a tendency
when you really begin to learn something about a thing not to want to write
about it but rather to keep on learning about it always, and at no time, unless
you are very egotistical, which of course accounts for many books, will you
be able to say: now I know all about this and will write about it. Certainly
I do not say that now; every year I know there is more to learn, but I know
some things which may be interesting now, and I may be away from bull-
fights for a long time and I might as well write what I know about them now.

As new information becomes available, there will be contemplation of a

new, third edition.
I would like to thank Robin Reddy and Mike Toepfer for reviewing this
new edition and providing many helpful suggestions and comments.
In addition to the people and companies who provided illustrative
materials for the first edition of this book, I would like to thank the follow-
ing individuals for their help with this edition: Lars Apelqvist, Tom Baber,
R. Baillorgeon, Peter Blake, John Booth, Pascal Bovagnet, Tom Brown,
Tim Canfield, Wayne Cassell, Dean Chang, Richard Coniglio, Lee Cook,
Larry Crowell, Roger Davidson, Randy Delenikos, Theo de Wolff, J. M.
Douglas, Jeff Drake, Mike Drake, B. R. Evans, Erich Fink, Dieter
Frankenberger, Rich Gargan, Dennis Geran, P. A. Goeman, Brian
Graham, Stacey Grimes, Gary Haggard, H. B. Haffer, Malcolm Haigh,
A. Hanson, Dennis Herold, Henry Hunt, P. E. Jackson, William Jung-
man, Wolfgang Krahn, James Lageman, Ernest Latal, Bill Lauritch, Don
Losacco, Gary Leudtke, Vernon Lucy, Gary Mackey, Robert Manwaring,
W. David Martin, Werner Marzluf, Jean-Jacques Maurel, G. Meneghetti,
Gabriel Meunier, John Mullin, Yusuf Mussalli, A. Neuhold, Delmar
Nichols, Finn Nielsen, A. Nilsson, Philip Orrill, Ken Ohyler, Bill Palarz,
Becca Pankratz, Joseph Pastore, Alfred Patzig, Tom Quimby, Robin
Reddy, L. Reichenau, Stanley Rudzinski, Karl Heinz Rusch, Mr. Schaaf,
Kristy Schloss, James Siler, Nico Smits, Rich Sommers, Michael Spring,
 Preface xv

C. L. Sprinkle, Judy Stevenson, Fred Tipton, C. H. Van Leeuwen, Mark

Watson, Thomas Whgfield, H. Wirth and Jake Zelenietz.
Finally, I would like to thank my wife Julie, and our children Chad,
Sarah, Mike, and Katie for their continued support and encouragement.

TOMPANKRATZ
League City,Texas
 CHAPTER 1

Screen Applications

T HE application of the best screening system for a particular project

is somewhat of an art. Although there are many "classic" applications,
where one type of screen is obviously better suited than any other, the
selection process for many projects is far more complicated.
Screen opening size and flow rate are the most important criteria used
in the selection of a screening system. Other categories include civil,
equipment, and operational costs; plant hydraulics; debris handling re-
quirements; operator qualifications; and availability.
The following categories describe common screening applications
within particular industries and the types of screens that they most fre-
quently employ. It is often possible to successfully utilize screens other
than the types mentioned below.

ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION

Nuclear and fossil fueled steam electric generating plants require ap-
proximately 500 to 1500 gallons of water per minute (32 to 96 L/s) per
megawatt of rated capacity. This water is primarily used for cooling pur-
poses in the plant's condensers and must be screened prior to use to pre-
vent clogging of tubes and openings in the surface and jet condensers, as
well as interfering with the proper operation of the circulating and con-
denser pumps.
Many power plants discharge the condenser exhaust directly to a lake,
ocean, or river that serves as a heat sink. Most newer power plants recycle
their condenser exhaust through cooling towers. Approximately 3 % to 5 %
of the recirculating water must be continually replaced to make up for
losses due to evaporation, drift, and blowdown. Such a "closed cycle" cool-
 SCREEN APPLICATIONS

Power plant intake screens, courtesy of Screening Systems International.

ing water system greatly reduces intake water requirements and, conse-
quently, the number of screens.
Traveling water screens and drum screens are used to fulfill the screen-
ing requirements at most power plants that use a surface cooling water
source. A large power plant that utilizes this "once through" approach in
its cooling water system may require as many as forty-eight individual
traveling water screens. These screens are usually preceded by a coarse
trash rack, equipped with a trash rake mechanism, to remove very large
and heavy debris.
Environmental conditions may require screens to be fitted with special
features to minimize their adverse affect on fish and other marine life.
Many traveling water screen manufacturers offer "fish screen" modifica-
tions for these applications.
Some power plants have successfully applied passive screening systems
for surface water intakes. These screens virtually eliminate problems asso-
ciated with debris handlinglremoval and may make compliance with en-
vironmental regulations easier.
Hydroelectric power stations in the northwestern United States may use
traveling water screens to screen the pumped recirculating water on a fish
ladder system. This is a relatively low flow application compared to the
other previously described power plant screen uses and usually requires
two or three screens.
Static screens and manually cleaned bar screens have been used success-
fully to dewater spray water produced by traveling water screens and drum
screens.
 Miscellaneous Manufacturing and Processing 3

WOOD PRODUCTS INDUSTRY

Pulp and paper plants are intensive users of raw water, requiring up to
20,000 gallons (76 m3) of water per ton of product. Many pulp, paper, and
saw mills generate their own electricity and use traveling water screens to
screen raw condenser feedwater and process water prior to its use.
Most mills process the logs used as raw materials for their product. The
logs are conveyed from the woodyard to large debarking drums via a
flume. Prior to being recycled, the flume water passes through a grit cham-
ber followed by one or more traveling water screens, static screens, or
rotary fine screens to remove bark, leaves, and twigs that have fallen off or
been removed during handling.
Some paper plants and kraft mills utilize static screens and rotary fine
screens in their waste treatment process, prior to clarification, to remove
and/or recover floating and suspended fibers and other particles that might
hinder sedimentation. Other fine screen applications in paper and pulp
mills include broke thickening, save-all, and whitewater screening.

MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURING AND PROCESSING

Food processing, steel mills, petro-chemical plants, refineries, textile,

and other large manufacturing plants also require the use of mechanical

Poultry processing, courtesy of Hycor Corp.

4 SCREEN APPLICATIONS

screening equipment. Requirements for many of these applications are

very site-specific.
Fine screens are also commonly used for solids' separation or product
recovery. Selection of the proper type of fine screening equipment is
highly dependent on the volume and consistency of the solids to be
screened.
Traveling water screens are usually used to screen fire water, condenser
and process cooling water, boiler feedwater, potable water, and process
water. For lower flow application, mechanically cleaned bar screens have
also been used successfully.

IRRIGATION PROJECTS

Irrigation and other open-channel water distribution projects in the

western and southwestern United States may use traveling water screens,
belt screens, or bar screens to protect pumping equipment at remote pump
stations.

WATER TREATMENT PLANTS

Large surface water treatment plants and desalination plants may em-
ploy traveling water screens, drum screens, bar screens, or passive screens

Irrigation pump station, courtesy of FPI, Inc.

 Combined Sewer Overjlow 5

Wastewater treatment plant, courtesy of Infilco Degremont.

to screen raw intake water as the first step in the treatment process. Inade-
quate screening may result in damage to downstream equipment, may in-
crease chemical requirements, and may hinder the treatment process.

WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS

One or more bar screen and/or fine screen can be found at virtually
every wastewater treatment plant in the world. The type of screens used
ranges from manually cleaned, coarse bar screens to fully automated
microscreens.
Screens may be used in preliminary, primary, and tertiary treatment pro-
cesses in a wastewater treatment plant. The use of fine screens for the
screening of sludge, grease, scum, and solids produced in other treatment
processes has increased significantly since the mid-1980s.
Application examples and suggestions are further discussed in the Bar
Screen, Fine Screen, Drum Screen, and Microscreen chapters of this
book.

COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOW

The use of screens in Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO) applications

are increasing since publication of the U. S. EPA's draft policy requiring
 SCREEN APPLICATIONS

Stormwater overflow, courtesy of Longwood Engineering.

CSO's to install nine minimum controls, including the control of solid and
floatable materials in CSO discharges. One of the most effective methods
of meeting this requirement is to install screening equipment at the CSO
discharge. Bar screens, fine screens, drum screens, and traveling water
screens have all been used successfully in CSO systems.
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