Surfcleaner equipment manages port wastewater treatment and oil spill response at Port of Norrköping

The Port of Norrköping is one of the largest ports in Sweden. Effective oil water separation equipment is an important consideration for the port’s wastewater treatment and oil spill response operations. It handles a variety of goods such as break bulk, bulk, containers, liquid bulk, and a variety of project loads, outside of what is considered standard (mainly in terms of weight and complexity in lifts). Several petroleum and petrochemical companies offer storage capacity for petroleum products within the harbour. The port handles the loading and unloading of petroleum products as well as maintenance of connecting pipe systems to the storage facilities.

Surfcleaner system increases oil spill clean-up efficiency, reduces maintenance costs, and saves time

Although the amount of oil spill within the operations inside the harbour has been greatly reduced during the last decades, there is still potential for hydrocarbons to end up in the water system if handled incorrectly. All of the greywater systems are connected and eventually end up in the oil separating facility located on the grounds. The oil separating facility consists of a building containing two pools and a sand filter.

“The continuous collection of oil with the Surfcleaner prevents bacterial overgrowth in the pools and drastically reduces the maintenance of the sand filter – saving both manhours and preventing cost.” Johan Ekström, Terminal Manager-Energy ports.

Surfcleaner saves the day: SCO 1000 system efficiently recovers diesel from sunken vessel in Norrköping Harbour

The Port of Norrköping also assists with oil spill response. In 2024 a medium sized towing vessel ran aground and sank in the harbour causing diesel to seep out into the ocean. Initially the owner of the boat, after securing the area around the vessel with floating barriers, tried using a suction vehicle to remove the diesel. However, the effectiveness of this method was low as the truck mostly collected water and only small amounts of oil, not solving the problem, and generating high cost for handling the 8m3 of oil-contaminated
water. Harbour personnel suggested using Surfcleaner’s multifunction oil-water separation system for oil spill clean-up. The Surfcleaner SCO 1000 is highly mobile, weighing only 28kg.

“The SCO 1000 collected and separated the 200l of diesel in one day, solving the problem at minimal cost for the boat owner.” – Johan Ekström, Terminal Manager-Energy Ports

A single Surfcleaner unit provides continuous oily wastewater treatment and can be deployed as needed for efficient oil spill response

Port of Norrköping has been using the Surfcleaner technology as part of their operation since 2021. The port’s initial use of the Surfcleaner was as a part of the wastewater cleaning system – for continuous oil-water separation and removal of oil from the wastewater –  and this is still the main task for the unit. However, due to the mobility of the unit it is a great asset to be able to utilize in oil spill response when accidents happen.

Equipment: SCO 1000 ATEX
Separation capacity: 1,000 l/h
Systems installed in 2022: 1 unit
Application: port wastewater treatment, oil spill response