Many wastewater treatment facilities use significant energy and resources because of inefficient aeration in the treatment tanks. Discovering and utilizing untapped savings potential is crucial.
To attain maximum energy and resource efficiency, AERZEN offers guidance throughout the planning and maintenance of a modern machinery setup.
Cost Item Water Treatment
Escalating energy costs, growing financial pressure, and the specific aim of reducing CO2 emissions in line with the Paris Agreement make energy and resource efficiency a paramount concern for both industrial and municipal operators of wastewater treatment facilities.
In Germany, electricity costs are approximately 42% higher than the European average (as of 2018).
This trend is on the rise: since 2000, the price of electricity in Germany has already increased by roughly 18%. Water resources are depleting globally, underlining the increasing significance of resource-efficient treatment.
With the right expertise, suitable technology, and intelligent control systems, it is possible to manage water in an energy-efficient and resource-friendly manner.
Modernization is Worthwhile
Investing in modernizing wastewater treatment typically pays off in as little as two years by notably enhancing the facility's operational efficiency.
Even replacing existing systems with efficient blower and compressor technology can reduce the operating expenses of a wastewater treatment plant by an average of 30%. Taking a comprehensive approach and adhering to the latest technologies and relevant standards helps avoid unexpected expenses.
AERwater: The Flexible Concept for More Resource Efficiency
With a 360-degree view of aeration processes, AERZEN has introduced AERwater as a holistic solution with coordinated performance components. Hardware, software, and service seamlessly collaborate.
Through AERwater, wastewater treatment facilities can operate with enhanced energy efficiency, resource conservation, and forward-looking strategies.
Challenge Accepted
The AERwater approach tackles the issues faced by planners and operators in the wastewater sector. It aids in aligning facilities with the advancements of Water 4.0 and reaping the benefits. The goal is to enhance flexibility, sustainability, and efficiency through digitalization and automation of processes.
The Concept
AERwater consists of different service areas:
- AERaudit conducts temporary measurements of flow, pressure, power, and temperature to ascertain the current load profiles.
- Performance³ enhances machinery with tailored equipment and technologies, which include positive displacement blowers, rotary lobe compressors, and/or turbo blowers.
- Machine room optimization addresses room ventilation, soundproofing, and heat recovery.
- Assistance with financing, such as applying for subsidies.
- Support during implementation, covering tasks like dismantling, commissioning, or rental machinery.
- AERsmart serves as an overarching machine control system, offering ongoing energy balance optimization and network integration, including data analysis and data management.
- AERZEN presents customized solutions through AERprogress, based on process and machine data, for even more efficient wastewater treatment.
- Service 4.0 manages spare parts and services.
Wastewater treatment facilities offer various adjustment points for conserving energy and resources. The all-encompassing AERwater concept caters to them all. It empowers wastewater treatment facilities to attain maximum efficiency, sustainable operational transparency, and long-term competitiveness.
The components of this concept can also be independently integrated, allowing facilities to take gradual steps toward the future.
AERaudit: Recognize Savings Potential
Load operation in wastewater treatment plants experiences significant fluctuations. AERaudit, when used to record and assess the operational data of a blower station, delivers conclusive insights into the facility's utilization and efficiency. This process uncovers potential areas for cost reduction.
Work More Energy Efficiently, Remain Competitive
Wastewater treatment plants typically stand as the primary energy consumers within municipalities. Given the need for municipalities to carefully manage public funds, harnessing potential cost savings becomes very important.
For industrial wastewater treatment plants, lowering energy expenses is also vital for maintaining competitiveness. The biological treatment phase constitutes a substantial 60 to 80% of a wastewater treatment plant's overall energy demand. Consequently, this is the ideal starting point for cost reduction.
The foundation for an efficient wastewater treatment plant, both in terms of processes and energy usage, begins with an analysis of the existing conditions and an evaluation of current operational data.
Economical Plant Configuration in Three Steps
- On-Site Measurement: The AERZEN service team brings transparency to the key metrics of your blower station. Using a mobile measurement station, it records vital data for your aeration system, including volume flow, system pressure, temperature, and rating. This process spans an extended period to accommodate various load profiles.
- Analysis: Careful evaluation of recorded data enables the assessment of low and peak loads. Based on these findings, AERZEN formulates tailored, highly efficient concepts.
- Report: A comprehensive, transparent display of all data from the blower station is provided. AERZEN also presents the Performance³ solution, which outlines the optimized adjustment of blower capacity to individual load fluctuations through an ideal machine configuration. This illustrates the considerable potential for energy and CO2 savings and the possible amortization periods.
Savings Potential
Benefit from an average energy saving potential of 30% and payback periods of under two years.
Performance³: Using Technology Efficiently
A wastewater treatment tank's aeration demands a lot of energy due to its need to handle fluctuating load profiles consistently. Machines rarely operate at their optimal, resource-saving efficiency points. Performance³ guarantees the most efficient use of the machinery.
Adaptation through Diversity
Traditionally, mainly blowers of one size have been used. However, the solution lies in personalized designs. This can involve a mix of various sizes of one technology or a blend of two or three seamlessly cooperating technologies.
Occasionally, specific load profiles favor using a single technology and size, yet, in principle, each system's load profiles must be customized to cater to the customer's specific requirements.
Each blower technology excels in a particular load range, offering ideal efficiency. Hence, a machinery park tailored to load curves ensures superior adaptation to the requirement profile, resulting in substantial energy savings.
Three Machines for More Performance
AERZEN provides three distinct technologies for wastewater treatment tank aeration, each catering to different load ranges. This concept relies on the Delta Blower, a positive displacement blower, the Delta Hybrid, a rotary lobe compressor, and the Aerzen Turbo, a turbo blower.
Each technology's strengths compensate for the inherent limitations of other technologies. The turbo blower delivers optimal energy efficiency at its design point.
The Delta Hybrid combines the benefits of a positive displacement blower and a screw compressor, achieving the highest energy efficiency within the 25% to 100% control range.
The Delta Blower, a positive displacement blower, offers cost-effectiveness with its broad control range from 25% to 100%, thanks to its sturdy and simple design.
A Comparison of Power Requirements and Volume Flow Ranges
Image Credit: Aerzener Maschinenfabrik GmbH
AERsmart: Control Wastewater Treatment Plants According to Demand
AERsmart is the intelligent control system for the device combination used to ventilate aeration tanks. This is because the machinery's ability to respond efficiently to changes in load relies on the control system's effectiveness. AERsmart oversees each machine or machine combination to achieve the maximum potential energy efficiency.
Integrated Control System for a New Level of Efficiency
With AERsmart - the interconnected control for blowers, hybrids, turbos, and other brands - the performance of aeration equipment can be fine-tuned, resulting in potential energy savings of up to 15% for the wastewater treatment plant.
The software contains detailed information about the connected equipment and uses it to calculate the optimal load distribution during combined operations. AERsmart also continually accesses data from the machine park and displays it on the interface or control room, enabling real-time access to comprehensive data on each machine.
The machines operate within the ideal efficiency range. AERsmart can help achieve efficiency values that closely approach the theoretically ideal levels because the software reacts automatically and in real time. This way, it optimizes the performance of the machinery inventory.
Savings Potential in Figures - Shortest ROI Times
Image Credit: Aerzener Maschinenfabrik GmbH
AERprogress: Transparency through Data
Data-driven services hold the potential to significantly improve the operation of blowers and compressors. The automated gathering, assessment, and analysis of data deliver tailored information, reports, and actionable suggestions.
Digital Transformation of Blower Technology
Digitization presents fresh opportunities for companies across various industries to streamline their processes. In the realm of blower and compressor technology, there is a growing shift toward automated data collection, evaluation, and analysis.
This approach enables the identification of areas for enhancement and long-term optimization of compressor operations. Transitioning to interconnected compressor and blower setups offers multiple advantages for operators.
It helps meet the increasing CO2 reduction requirements in line with the Paris Climate Agreement by substantially cutting energy usage. This, in turn, results in noticeable reductions in energy expenses.
Operators also gain increased process safety, transparency, and reliability. Thanks to automated data collection in production, compression processes are no longer a mystery and can be systematically analyzed for efficiency.
With modern data-driven service and maintenance strategies, operators of compressor and blower packages can reduce incidents and carry out appropriate maintenance work.
The AERZEN Group is devoted to digital transformation and now provides its customers with customized digital services for compressors and blowers through AERprogress.
Transparency by Data – The AERZEN Digital Platform
With its cloud-based platform, AERZEN is leading the way into the digital future of compressor technology. The concept centers around the facility operator, focusing on the targeted collection of relevant process data.
This ensures the highest level of transparency in processes and sustainable cost structure optimization in machine life cycle cost management.
Through digitalization, customers experience cost savings from reduced maintenance and staffing expenses, lowered energy costs, increased plant availability, and a more environmentally friendly CO2 footprint. This platform is accessible through both stationary and mobile devices via a web browser.
IoT Solutions in Wastewater Technology - Opportunities for Operators
Stakeholders in the wastewater industry agree that linking facilities and digital system components using real-time data presents significant potential for streamlining processes.
From an operator's perspective, striving for a high level of consistency in planning and operational procedures through modern hardware and software is essential.
Aerzen. Compression - The Key to Our Success
AERZEN, established in 1864 as Aerzener Maschinenfabrik, introduced Europe's first positive displacement blower in 1868.
The initial turbo blowers emerged in 1911, followed by the first screw compressors in 1943. In 2010, the world's first rotary lobe compressor package was developed. Innovations originating from AERZEN continue to propel compressor technology forward.
Today, AERZEN stands as one of the world's oldest and most influential manufacturers of positive displacement blowers, rotary lobe compressors, screw compressors, and turbo blowers. AERZEN holds an unquestioned leadership position in various application areas.
Across its 50 global subsidiaries, more than 2,500 skilled employees diligently contribute to shaping the future of compression technology. Its technical proficiency, the worldwide network of experts, and the continual input from customers underpin its success.
AERZEN products and services define the benchmark for reliability, value stability, and efficiency.
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