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Water & Wastewater - Updates
TWO PUMPS PROVE BETTER THAN FOUR
REPLACING FOUR FIXED-SPEED pumps with two variable speedcontrolled pumps has increased pumping capacity, improved reliability and significantly reduced noise for Anglian Water’s Kentford Moulton site, near Newmarket.
Four 11kW line shaft-driven pumps, first installed in 1992, were running without any form of variable speed control. They have been replaced with two 45kW submersible sewage pumps, with their flow rate controlled by two ABB water drives.
The upgrade increases pumping capacity and delivers substantial energy savings, as the ABB drives ensure that the pumps only operate at the speed required. Before the upgrade the average pump running time was 14 hours per day. Following the upgrade, the average run time reduced to three hours per day. This energy reduction led to an estimated £4,000 annual saving for Anglian Water.
The four old pumps ran simultaneously, generating high noise levels and disturbing local residents. The two replacement pumps are run in a duty-standby configuration, meaning only one pump is typically running at a given time, significantly reducing noise levels. The load is shared between the two pumps via switching, spreading wear between the pumps more equally.
The project was part of a large pump upgrade at the Kentford Moulton site, carried out by ABB Value Provider, Gibbons Engineering Group. The site needed to remain fully operational while the upgrade took place, so Gibbons connected the new VSDs to temporary pumps while the old pumps were replaced. This ensured that customers received no interruption in service.
new.abb.com
BRUNEL PROJECT TO CUT INDUSTRIAL WASTE
HELPING ENERGY-HUNGRY industries scoop back and reuse vast volumes of wastewater and heat is the goal of an ambitious new project at Brunel University London.
Brunel engineers will develop new water treatment, exhaust condensation and waste valorisation systems that let factories recycle 30% of wastewater and heat.
Europe’s Horizon 2020 fund to equip Europe to compete on the world stage is pouring €10,596,775 into the iWAYS project, short for Innovative Water Recovery solutions.
The technology, which promises to save billions across several sectors, will first be perfected for Europe’s most energy-intensive industries — chemicals, steel and ceramics — where it will have the biggest impact.
The new industrial-scale heat and waste recycling technologies are forecast to cut water use by 30% to 64% and reuse water and heat from humid gases by 30%. They will also sift out acids and tiny particles from run-off gases to cut environmental pollution.
www.brunel.ac.uk
CHOPPER PUMP SOLVES WASTEWATER CHALLENGE
FERRIER PUMPS HAS BROUGHT about a successful solution to a tricky wastewater application at a new chicken processing plant in Scotland.
Ferrier Pumps have brought in a Landia chopper pump to deal with wastewater from chicken processing.
With washdown water containing feathers, faeces and sawdust, achieving the required flow rate was critical, as was the selection of a pump that could cope with the difficult solids.
As part of its design, which included two screens, pipework, control panels and flowmeter, Ferrier Pumps brought in a submersible chopper pump from Landia.
“Critically, we knew that if the minimum self-cleansing velocity could not be maintained for this packaged pumping station, then the solids in the pumped product would settle out causing blockages”, explained Peter Ramsay, Sales Engineer at Ferrier.
“We had also seen from previous experience that the Landia chopper pump is extremely effective and reliable – even when having to deal with very hard-to-handle solids such as feathers. We’ve had no issues at all. It is the best pump for these challenging applications”.
Operating at 1500 rpm, the submersible Landia chopper pump installed by Ferrier Pumps is designed with its classic external knife system that chops solids before they get inside the pump’s casing – continuously reducing particle sizes for the benefit of the process.
