CASE STUDY – High Capacity Oil Mist Removal System

Industry: Commercial & Industrial Frying

Location: Irvine, CA

Application: Oil mist and oil vapor removal for food processing, commercial kitchens, and packaged food production

Overview

Commercial and industrial frying generates exhaust containing oil mist, vapors, moisture, odors, and fine particles. If untreated, these contaminants can create fouling, odor, safety, and air-quality concerns.

Ship & Shore Environmental developed a fuel free, multistage oil removal system achieving 95–98% contaminant removal efficiency through cooling, condensation, gravity separation, and mechanical filtration.

System & Process

Fryer exhaust enters the system under negative pressure and passes through a series of treatment stages:

• Blower: Creates negative pressure to pull contaminated exhaust through the system while helping remove oil buildup from internal surfaces.
• Condenser: Cools high-temperature fryer exhaust, typically entering at 250–350°F, converting oil vapors and moisture into liquid.
• Cooling Tower: Cools and recirculates process water while separating floating oil from the water stream.
• Knockout Tank: Reduces gas velocity, allowing gravity to separate condensed oil and water from the gas stream.
• Coconut Shell Activated Carbon Filters: Capture remaining fine oil, grease, volatile compounds, and odor-causing contaminants.
• Stack: Safely vents the gas treated to the atmosphere.

The process avoids fuel-fired thermal oxidation, reducing energy consumption and simplifying maintenance while handling high airflow volumes.

From Proven Design to 20× Capacity

After successfully starting up an initial system designed for 2,170 SCFM, the customer returned to Ship & Shore for a substantially larger installation.

The new system was engineered for up to 43,584 SCFM 20 times the original airflow capacity and approximately 320°F operating temperature, compared with 185°F for the first system.

Results

The system is designed to achieve 95–98% removal efficiency for oil mist, condensable vapors, and related contaminants while reducing odors and protecting downstream ductwork and equipment from oil fouling.

The larger installation builds on the proven performance of the original system, providing a scalable solution for high-volume frying operations without relying on fuel-fired treatment.

Conclusion

This project demonstrates how a simple, multi-stage separation and filtration approach can deliver high-capacity oil removal with lower operating complexity and energy demand. Building on a successful 2,170-SCFM installation, Ship & Shore scaled the technology to 43,584 SCFM, giving the customer a reliable solution for expanded production and long-term air-quality performance.