Category Archives: Case Studies

Case Studies, Elevated Temperatures, ETLF, Landfill Leachate, Taming ET Sites

Leachate Removal Gets a Boost From Blackhawk Piston Pumps

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Elevated Temp Lechate Removal
15
Jul

Collection at a Mid-Atlantic Landfill Keeps Leachate Levels Compliant

Leachate is a wastewater that forms when rainwater interacts with landfill material. The rain’s contact with buried waste draws out chemicals that can be harmful to the environment.

Maintenance and removal of leachate from landfills is crucial for the sites to stay in compliance; thus, specialized pumps are used on many sites to pump the wastewater to a collection point where it can be properly disposed of.

With the help of Blackhawk’s top head drive positive-displacement piston pump, a landfill located deep within a quarry was able to cull its leachate levels and control its methane gas emissions.

Collection at a mid-atlantic landfill keeps leachate levels compliant leachate is a wastewater that forms when rainwater interacts with landfill material. The rain’s contact with buried waste draws out chemicals that can be harmful to the environment.

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Case Studies, Landfill Leachate, News, Taming ET Sites, V-2

Versatile Pumps Tame Elevated-Temp Landfills

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V-2 elevated temp pump with brass fittings
15
Jul

A North American Elevated Temperature Landfill (ETLF) Used Pneumatic Piston Pumps to Address Leachate Accumulation

More than a decade ago, a now-closed landfill outside a U.S. city was experiencing a public and legal reaction to increased odor, offsite gas migration, and leachate release.

The accumulation of altered-chemistry leachate – heavier than gas and changing its composition with age – is now believed to have been the cause, eventually creating a subsurface exothermic reaction over several acres that raised temperatures to an estimated 200°F or more in some zones.

A North American elevated temperature landfill (ETLF) used pneumatic piston pumps to address leachate accumulation
more than a decade ago, a now-closed landfill outside a u.S. City was experiencing a public and legal reaction to increased odor, offsite gas migration, and leachate
release.

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Anchor, Bio-Foul, Landfill Leachate, News, Side-slopes at hot site

Restoration of Distressed Liners at a Hazardous Waste Landfill

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anchor pump side slope
15
Jul

Anchor Electric Piston Pump Brings Section of Landfill Back Into Compliance

A Midwest disposal facility found use of an Anchor Electric 101 top-head drive piston pump to effectively mitigate the effect of a crushed side slope well.

Early in 2003, during routine sampling of the secondary sump, the pump became stuck during extraction. Working as a team, the owner, designer, and contractor created a shaft-accessed repair design plan.

The design included extending a 10-foot diameter steel cased shaft to a depth of approximately 60 feet below waste surface and cutting a section of liner plate so it would conform to the shape of the sump.

Anchor electric piston pump brings section of landfill back into compliance a midwest disposal facility found use of an anchor electric 101 top-head drive piston pump to effectively mitigate the effect of a crushed side slope well.

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Case Studies, Landfill Leachate, News, Remediation & Recovery, Solar Pumps, Solars vs Submersibles

Blackhawk Solar Pumps Transform Former Landfill Site

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An overhead view of a large cylindrical metal container housing complex industrial machinery with various components, wires, and tubes. A piece of white paper and a small blue and white tool sit at the bottom, adjacent to a top-head drive pump.
15
Jul

Solars Replace Submersibles to Keep Old Landfill Compliant in New Life as City Park

A recreation area in the Southwestern U.S. is a big hill covered by boulders encased in sturdy wire and decorated with wildflowers. There’s a good chance the nearby residents visiting the dog park, archery range, and playground don’t know (or remember) that the mound was, until 2005, the city landfill.

They certainly don’t see the four Apollo™ solar piston pumps hidden in caissons and powered by unobtrusive low-rise solar panels behind a ridge, which help keep the closed site EPA compliant.

There’s a good chance the Chandler, Ariz., residents visiting the dog park, archery range and playground don’t know (or remember) that the mound was, for 30 years until 2005, the city landfill.

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Bio-Foul, Case Studies, Gas Well Dewatering, Landfill Leachate, News

Pumping the Sump – Without the Biofouling

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Close-up view of a groundwater monitoring well installation, featuring a well cap with various pipes, valves, and sensors above ground, including a top-head drive pump. The background includes a grassy landscape, trees, and distant buildings under a clear blue sky.
15
Jul

The Clean and Reliable Edge Pump Offers Ease of Maintenance, Draining for Landfill

When bio-growth on a competitor’s airlift pump rendered it unusable in a landfill sump at a remarkably clean, state-of-the-art facility in the Northeast, the nationally recognized landfill installed the popular Edge Pneumatic Piston Pump™ from Blackhawk.

Biofouling is unacceptable to the ISO-awarded managers of the privately owned 720-acre site, which receives an average of 4,750 tons of solid waste a day and is proud of its environmental management system.

Pumping the Sump – without the Bio-Fouling When bio-growth on a competitor’s airlift pump rendered it unusable in a landfill sump at a remarkably clean, state-of-the-art facility.

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Case Studies, Clean Energy / RNG, Manure to Energy, News

Zero-Emission Solars Pump Biogas Condensate Sumps at Midwest Hog Farms

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A fenced area contains a water well with pipes, electrical equipment, and two solar panels mounted on a pole, surrounded by grass and trees.
15
Jul

Hog Farm Manure-to-Energy Project Turns Methane to Natural Gas

Blackhawk Technology Company, the nation’s leading provider of piston pumps for landfill methane condensate-sump pumping, is now supplying a bioenergy facility with Apollo™ piston pump units to pump methane biogas sumps for a renewable hog farm manure-to-natural-gas (RNG) project in the Midwest.

Fulfilling a Crucial Role

The joint venture of a hog farm producer and a bioenergy company captures methane from manure at the farms’ hog-finishing operations to produce pipeline-quality natural gas, which is distributed to RNG markets across the country.

When America’s largest hog producer, Smithfield Foods, joined with one of the country’s most respected renewable-energy engineers, Roeslein Alternative Energy (RAE), to create Monarch Bioenergy in 2020

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Anchor, Case Studies, Electric Pumps, News, Oil Refinery

Pump With Staying Power Serves Oil Refinery for 25 Years

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Pump lasts 25 years
10
Jul

Unit Prevents Oil Loss and Environmental Contamination

A refinery in Puerto Rico has now depended on a Blackhawk pump for a quarter-century. Why? It boils down to three things: effectiveness, durability, and ease of use.

The unit – an Anchor Electric 102 top head drive positive displacement piston pump – is used in an application similar to oil well recovery pumps. This unit recovers oil from below ground that has been leaked or spilled during refining.

The pump prevents the harm to groundwater aquifers and other environmental features that would result from oil contamination, and it also reclaims revenue. In many cases, recovered oil can be cleaned, processed, and then used in petroleum products just as crude oil would be. The system protects the customer’s bottom line by preventing cleanup costs, legal actions, and fines; it benefits their bottom line by recovering lost oil.

A refinery in Puerto Rico has now depended on a Blackhawk pump for a quarter-century. Why? It boils down to three things: effectiveness, durability, and ease of use.

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Case Studies, Landfill Leachate, News, Side Slope / Directional Wells, Solar Pumps

Keeping Landfill Gas Flowing with Horizontal Piston Pumps

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Solar panel on a pole beside a cluster of large horizontal pumps.
06
Jul

Supporting Productive Horizontal Wells

Horizontal gas wells provide operators with greater access to gas reserves, helping improve gas collection performance and recovery. However, as waste cells settle over time, these wells can develop low spots where liquids, including condensate and leachate accumulate. When liquid becomes trapped in these sections of the well, gas flow is restricted, reducing the effectiveness of the gas collection system.

To address this challenge, Blackhawk Technology developed horizontal piston pump solutions specifically designed to remove trapped liquids from horizontal landfill gas wells and help operators maintain consistent gas flow and recovery.

Horizontal gas wells provide operators with greater access to gas reserves, helping improve gas collection performance and recovery. However, as waste cells settle over time, these wells can develop low spots

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Apollo, Case Studies, Ground Water Remediation, Groundwater Sampling, News

Beyond The Bladder: A New Standard In Sampling

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downhole thickness illustration
29
May

WHERE SAMPLING FALLS SHORT

Groundwater sampling demands precision, consistency, and minimal disturbance. For years, bladder pumps have been a standard solution because they isolate drive gas from the sample, helping reduce aeration and turbulence.

However, as sampling conditions become more complex, especially in deeper wells, traditional systems can introduce new challenges.

At groundwater monitoring sites across the U.S., operators relied on bailers and bladder pumps to collect samples. While widely used, these methods often introduced inconsistencies in both performance and sample integrity.

Bladder pumps rely on flexible internal components that can wear over time. As those components degrade or fail, compressed air can be introduced into the well, contaminating samples and requiring rework.

In practice, this meant:

  • Frequent bladder failures and replacements
  • Inconsistent flow rates
  • Limited depth capability
  • Increased maintenance and downtime

These issues often led to contaminated groundwater samples and the need to repeat sampling events, impacting both efficiency and data reliability.

Groundwater sampling demands precision, consistency, and minimal disturbance. For years, bladder pumps have been a standard solution because they isolate drive gas from the sample, helping reduce aeration and turbulence.

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Apollo, Case Studies, Electric Pumps, News

Apollo Shallow Oil Pumper Improves Shallow Well Performance

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shallow oil well recovery
02
Mar

Challenge

As production declined in a shallow oil well pumping at approximately 360 feet, an older jack pump became increasingly difficult to operate efficiently. Being a marginal producer, this aging system was performing too aggressively and exceeded what the low volume well could normally support. As a result, this excessive action disrupted the oil/water mixture and contributed to surface overflow and localized field damage.

Operators needed a more efficient pumping solution capable of performing at a slow, steady rate to recover oil, minimizing water disturbance and preventing additional surface issues and environmental damage.

As production declined in a shallow oil well pumping at approximately 360 feet, an older jack pump became increasingly difficult to operate efficiently. Being a marginal producer, this aging system was performing too aggressively and exceeded what the low volume well could normally support. As a result, this excessive action disrupted the oil/water mixture and contributed to surface overflow and localized field damage.

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