For many industrial facilities, wastewater treatment is an integral part of the production process. Malfunction or failure of wastewater treatment equipment can have a devastating effect on production, often requiring production to cease completely until water treatment capability can be restored. Aerzen provides short- and medium-term rental of complete aeration solutions with fine bubble aeration grids and blowers for wastewater treatment applications, preventing costly downtime and enabling businesses to stay on their feet.
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The Importance of Wastewater Treatment
Wastewater treatment – the process of removing contaminants from water so that it can be returned to the water cycle – is an essential step in preventing environmental pollution from industrial waste. Global authorities set strict regulations on the disposal of wastewater, limiting the type and amount of wastewater that can be processed in municipal treatment plants.1,2 Consequently, a large number of industries – including textiles, food and drink, chemical processing (including oil and gas), power plants and electronics manufacturing – build dedicated wastewater treatment plants onsite wherever large volumes of effluent are produced.
With wastewater treatment typically occurring at, or near, the end of the production cycle, the failure of wastewater treatment equipment can have overwhelming consequences for the facility for which it is built. Inability to process wastewater at a fast enough rate typically means that production must reduce or even be shut down. The subsequent costs of downtime for these large industrial facilities can be enormous.
Such was the dilemma facing a food manufacturing company when unexpected problems left a fruit juice manufacturing facility unable to process its wastewater. The newly constructed fruit juice production facility was supposed to be accompanied by an expansion of the existing wastewater treatment plant onsite. However, unforeseen events resulted in a four-month delay to the construction of the water treatment plant extension. Unable to process effluent, the facility was not able to run. This left the operators of the facility with a decision: either leave the facility inactive for four months and absorb the significant losses incurred, or find an alternative solution.
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Solving Wastewater Treatment Problems
In this case, the company opted for the latter, contacting a renowned water engineering company to help find a solution. It was decided that temporary wastewater treatment capacity could be installed onsite by converting an existing sludge storage tank into a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR).
A sequencing batch reactor relies on the aeration of effluent in the presence of microorganisms that break down organic matter, rendering the effluent suitable for discharge into the water cycle.3 Construction of the SBR therefore required air blowers capable of delivering a sufficient volume of air to the tank contents, and air diffusers to diffuse this air into small bubbles to maximize productivity.
Thanks to our short- and mid-term rental service, Aerzen was ideally positioned to supply the necessary equipment for this problem. The primary pieces of equipment supplied were three fine bubble aeration grids and a 1500 m3/h air blower. Alongside this, we provided all the necessary pumps and pipes to transfer process effluent to a buffer tank, and for transferring homogeneous effluents into a mud silo.
Our Rental Solutions Team was able to rapidly identify and solve the logistical and safety challenges of the project: this included stabilization of soft ground on the construction site, prompt delivery of equipment via trucks, and use of a crane for lifting and placement of the aeration grids in the effluent tank. Our service engineers installed, connected and tested every piece of equipment. Once the biological treatment mass had been sown, the SBR tank could go online, enabling the facility to focus on production.
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Aerzen Rental Solutions for Emergency Wastewater Treatment
At Aerzen, we understand the catastrophic consequences that wastewater treatment failure can have on businesses. Our rental service provides short- to mid-term lease of top-of-the-line oil free air and gas blowers for wastewater applications. In addition, we supply all required accessories, fine bubble aeration grids, including generators, transformers, electrical cables, pipes and hoses; for seamless integration into your processes.
With more than 150 years of experience, we’ve built an extensive knowledge of the needs of different industries. Our offering is truly unique: we offer six different compression ratios and variable speed drives as standard to enable our customers to achieve the optimum pressure and flow rate for their application. This eliminates losses associated with over-compression that occur with market-standard 10 bar(g) oil free compressors. We provide robust, plug-and-play solutions ranging from -650 mbar(g) vacuum to 10 bar(g) overpressure.
With a large fleet of 100% oil-free units and depots across Europe and North America, we can provide 24/7 service and delivery whenever and wherever it’s required. Our expertise combined with our technical and logistical resources means that we can mobilize rapidly and ensure continuity of production for our customers.
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Our dedicated Rental Solutions Team works to understand our customers’ requirements and deadlines, enabling us to find solutions for all industry sectors and applications. To learn more about our rental services and capabilities in wastewater treatment, take a look at our rental solutions brochure or get in touch with the Aerzen team today.
References and Further Reading
1. European Environment Agency. Industrial waste water treatment: pressures on Europe’s environment. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2800/496223 (2019).
2. US EPA, O. Effluent Guidelines. US EPA https://www.epa.gov/eg (2014).
3. Wilderer, P. A., Irvine, R. L. & Goronszy, M. C. Sequencing Batch Reactor Technology. (IWA Publishing, 2001).
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Aerzener Maschinenfabrik GmbH.
For more information on this source, please visit Aerzener Maschinenfabrik GmbH