Oil Retention and Removal Facilities at
Ford Motor Company's
Rouge Manufacturing Complex
STUART H. VAUGHN, Engineer Associate
Plant Engineering Office
Manufacturing Staff
Ford Motor Company
Detroit, Michigan
INTRODUCTION
This paper outlines the development of the oil retention and removal equipment at the Ford Motor Company's Rouge Manufacturing Complex. To better understand the development of oil removal equipment, it is first necessary to examine the situation at the Rouge, early oil recovery equipment and the environmental
conditions that exist. This background also will better indicate the adaptability
of this system to other locations and situations.
OIL LOSSES AT THE ROUGE
There has been continuing emphasis to improve the efficiency of the oil collection facilities at the Rouge over the years. It should be emphasized from the
outset that Ford Motor Company has had a stated policy and pursues a vigorous
program of stopping oil spillages and losses at the source. Despite these etforts,
some oil continues to enter into the storm sewer system and ultimately appears in
the open water which serves as our navigation basin. This situation is somewhat
more understandable when it is realized the Rouge is the most concentrated industrial complex in the world, employing 36,000 persons within a two square mile
area. Raw materials are delivered to the Rouge to manufacture steel, iron, glass,
coke and electricity. Further, the Rouge has engine, stamping, and assembly
plants as well as complete supporting facilities. A major portion of the area was
constructed between 1920 ana 1935, a period of construction that did not include
process piping, pits, sumps, curbs, gutters, and similar devices to contain and
concentrate spillages.
EARLY OIL RECOVERY EQUIPMENT
Over the years, with increased company and public concern over the oil
losses to the river, several oil retarding and recovery systems have been installed.
The most elaborate system, preceding the one discussed in this paper, was a
floating gravity skimmer which was placed in the extreme northwest corner of our
navigation boat slip. This body of water is a remnant of an older drainage course
and still receives the major storm drainage from the Rouge. The oil skimmer was
a large drum-supported steel trough which was fastened to the vertical sides of the
boat slip. Oil draining out of the sewers and entering the navigation basin was
blocked by a skirt baffle and drawn into the trough through a series of shallow weirs.
The skimmed oil and water mixture was then pumped to a large reservoir as a first
stage in the oil concentration process. From the reservoir the thickened oil was
pumped to steam heated oil holding tanks where the remaining oil was separated.
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