Centrifugal ZB VSD blowers supply deep sedimentation tanks with high-pressure air
If you could see 8.5m down into the murky depths of the biological treatment tanks, you would see three ZB 130 VSD centrifugal blowers and two older single-stage screw compressors introducing compressed air – and driving the biological cleaning process of the tank’s contents.
Energetic intensive process
But this is a very energy-intensive process – especially given that the tanks are twice as deep as normal. Each year, the plant treats an average of between 6.5 and 7 million m3 of sewage water, a process that accounts for 40% of the plant's entire power consumption.
An investment in energy-efficiency and ease of maintenance
The compressed air required for the biological process was previously provided by five single-stage screw compressors. Because these aging compressors needed to be completely overhauled at great cost, the search for a new energy-efficient solution began. Centrifugal blowers with magnetic bearings were deemed to be the best option because a comparatively high pressure is required for the exceptional depth of the tanks. "We are able to produce higher pressures with the centrifugal blowers than we were previously able to with the screw compressors," explains Schweinforth. "We have purchased the new blowers with the aim that the machines will now be more energy efficient and easy to maintain," says plant manager Karl-Heinz Schröder.
Now that we are using the centrifugal blowers from Atlas Copco, we are saving around € 15,000 each year on maintenance, energy and resources compared with screw compressors.
Oil-free compressed air as required
The three speed-regulated centrifugal blowers generate between 2500 and 7500 Nm³ of oil-free compressed air per hour depending on the amount of sewage water and the polluting load. The interaction is engineered by the ES 130 master control system from Atlas Copco. The process control system determines the air requirement on the basis of the oxygen content in the tanks. "At the moment, we are still using a constant pressure regulator," says Schröder. "Our next goal is to optimize this regulatory process and integrate a variable pressure regulator. Up to now, we have wasted a lot of energy as we have been operating against closed gate valves at a constant pressure of 1020 millibar. With the variable pressure regulator in place, all eight gate valves are linked and the pressure can be adjusted in line with demand, thereby enabling us to reduce the pressure used.