GN Solids Control supplies an efficient and safe solution to treat slurry generated onsite through the infrastructure construction process.
Established in 2007, GN Solids Control specialises in separation equipment, including solids control hardware, industry decanter centrifuge and waste management supplies. The company has generated more than 20 patents for separation equipment and exports products to 80 countries around the world.
GN is a trusted partner for waste management innovations. As a leading hydrovac slurry treatment system provider, GN designs and manufactures a range of waste management systems for hydrovac and directional drill slurry.
GN products have specialised features including complete package turnkey solutions and modularised systems for fast installation and mobilisation, while the four-phase mechanical separation provides operators with a better result.
Their advantages include direct entry and simple operation, while benefits include monetary and water conservation, and the inventory of products is supported by evidence with satisfied clients across Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA.
The rise of land development and rapid evolution of urban environments has seen a greater need for innovative waste management solutions. Hydrovac is becoming an increasingly popular solution in civil engineering and infrastructure construction processes, and it is also the favoured method for pipework installation.
Slurry is the by-product of hydro excavation processes. Made up of water and solids, it is difficult for operators to dispose of in landfill due to its weight and solid/liquid composition.
Waterlogged, thick mud is cumbersome due to its high volume and weight, with landfill sites increasingly reluctant to accept bulky waste. Burying waste can also be both legally and environmentally problematic.
GN has produced a closed loop system for recovering solids and reducing water consumption. The purpose of the system is to turn environmentally contaminating slurries into reusable soil and clean water.
GN’s slurry treatment solution deviates from a conventional take-make-waste model, participating in a circular economy by removing waste entirely, converting it into useable product. Dealing with slurry in-situ removes the risk of having to transport potentially toxic substances and GN’s effective dewatering solution allows for the recovery of reusable material.
The slurry processing solution uses liquid and solids separation equipment to treat soil or slurry generated from the hydrovac or horizontal directional drilling (HDD) projects. It generates a reusable material for construction and discharges clean, reusable water.
The solution is non-destructive and precise, using pressurised water and an industrial strength vacuum. As the pressurised water breaks up the soil it creates a slurry that is removed by a powerful vacuum into a debris tank.
The hydrovac truck collects the aggregate base and soil materials through the vacuum, and the company’s standard hydrovac slurry separation system generally includes a scalping shaker, fine shaker, desilter and decanter centrifuge.
The shale shakers (equipped with different mesh sizes for separation of a variety of particles), desilters (for separation of fine particles) and the decanter centrifuge (to treat slurry into clear water) all separate the solids from the water, sorting them into different sized particles.
GN’s slurry treatment solutions do not contaminate the environment. By turning waste material into useable water and soil, revenue can be generated by selling the separated useable biproducts. Up to 85 per cent of stones, sand and silts can be sized and recovered and converted into profitable construction materials.
Main components
Here are the main treating components for GN’s separation process:
GN catch hopper
The catch hopper allows two hydrovac trucks to dump at the same time without having to wait in line. Open wire mesh fixed on the top of the hopper holds the large stones or strays from falling off and through the automatic gate valve, while high pressure flushing nozzles around the hopper keep it from blocking.
GN coarse shaker
Slurry falls into the GN coarse shaker first, which is equipped with long screen panels to allow the slurry enough time to stay above. Big particles, like gravel, pebbles or aggregates are removed, then transferred by a conveyor belt.
GN fine shaker
A VFD submersible pump feeds the slurry through the coarse shaker into the GN double deck fine shaker. By using large mesh screens on the upper deck and small mesh ones on the bottom deck, the GN fine shaker treats the slurry twice and removes sand.
GN desilter
The GN desilter uses multiple 4 inch (101 mm) cyclones to treat the liquid from the GN fine shaker. Fed by another submersible pump, the desilter can recover most of the solids larger than 25 microns. A GN ViST unit can be provided as an optional reinforced separation unit, to recover more than 10-15 per cent of solids.
GN decanter centrifuge
As the key treating equipment, the GN decanter centrifuge runs at a high rotating speed to eliminate solids larger than 2-5 microns. The centrifuge bowl and screw propeller both rotate in the same direction but at different speeds due to the density difference.
Solids are forced to the outer inside ring of the bowl and pushed out from the solids discharge port where tungsten carbide inserts are used for protection against long-term wearing, and liquid leaves in the centre before they are flushed from the drain outlet.
For a better treating performance, a chemical dosing unit can also be used to feed flocculants together with the slurry into the centrifuge. All these components are designed in a compact modular structure, easy and fast to connect and relocate. Working parameters can be changed easily in a centralised control system, and alarms are monitored from a human-machine interface (HMI) screen.
GN’s slurry treatment eliminates the need for excavators to reload the slurry from mud pit to the treating system. With simple, easy-to-use design, the system requires as little as two operators onsite. The company’s treatment solutions save operators time, money, and the necessity for storage of excess equipment.
Overall, GN’s slurry treatment systems empower customers with greater control of their waste, providing a more sustainable approach to processing slurry and reduced disposal costs.
For more information visit the GN Solid’s website.