Integrated intelligence to solve wastewater challenges

Xylem’s new Flygt Concertor wastewater pumping system is designed for 1 kW to 10 kW pump stations.

Launched more than 60 years ago, Xylem’s Flygt brand represents a long history of pioneering development of products and solutions for handling water and wastewater; with the first submersible drainage pump and the first submersible sewage pump.

A fully integrated pumping system, Flygt Concertor’s design works in harmony with the external pumping system to reduce total costs of ownership while delivering the highest quality and reliability. It senses the operating conditions of the environment and adapts its performance in real time to provide feedback to station operators.

“The name Concertor relates to the harmony between built-in software functions and hardware, which creates efficient asset management, trouble-free pumping and energy savings at a reduced investment. Concertor combines a fully integrated control system, IE4 motor efficiency, Xylem’s patented Adaptive N-hydraulics and intelligent pumping system functionalities. The control system automatically adapts to the changing pumping environment to deliver optimal performance at the lowest costs. The built-in intelligence also makes it easier to set up and operate, as well as allowing for a significantly smaller footprint,” says Chetan Mistry, strategy and marketing manager, Xylem Africa.

In terms of pump asset management, due to the wide range of pump curves that can be accommodated, the need to identify real pumping design requirements before sizing and choosing suitable pumps is removed. One self-adjusting pump can efficiently replace several differently sized pumps, reducing inventory by up to 80%.

This makes product selection much easier, with adjustable performance curves that can be fine-tuned remotely or on site, reducing backup inventory, making spare part handling easier and reducing delivery lead times.

For trouble-free pumping, built-in features such as clogfree operation reduce the need to call out vacuum cleaning trucks – by up to 80%. “Cleaning out sludge, sand, grease and other debris from a sump tank can be an unpleasant and costly task. While standard pumps are designed to combat many of these issues, Concertor takes trouble-free pumping to an entirely new level,” says Mistry.

With built-in sump, pipe and pump cleaning, as well as automatic clog detection and phase rotation correction, the Flygt Concertor system’s self-cleaning hydraulics and self-monitoring functionality are ideally placed to protect key system components, using the variable-speed drive and its control electronics placed in a stable submerged environment. “Studies show that energy accounts for 34% of the total life cycle cost of a typical wastewater pumping system. Concertor is a true energy-saver, with the potential to cut municipal electricity bills by up to 70% compared to a conventional wastewater pumping,” adds Mistry. Concertor also reduces energy use in several ways. For example, Xylem’s patented selfoptimising Energy Minimiser automatically ensures that all working pumps at any station are running at their most efficient duty points. The pump’s motor complies with IE4 efficiency standards, while Xylem Flygt’s adaptive N-hydraulics, in high chrome HardIron™, guarantees sustained efficiency on the hydraulics side.

Investment is reduced because the cabinets required for the system are up to 50% smaller compared to direct online pump controllers. Concertor achieves this by including the variable frequency drives, control electronics and climate control equipment into the pump to give a single, pre-engineered and configured pumping system. This frees up space in both existing and new cabinets, allowing for full monitoring functionality without the larger cabinets that would traditionally be required.

As it is fully integrated, no additional climate control equipment is required; the system is factory configured and tested. On installation, it requires only a connection to a small cabinet to give access to the simple installation wizard and the built-in supervision and monitoring functions.