Sustainability Matters April/May 2013

contents

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utumn is a season I do enjoy very much. There are not only a few special birthdays to celebrate, it can also be spectacular with all the changing colour of the leaves adapting and preparing for the winter. Looking at nature and the way it adapts to the environment can be valuable and may even help solve some of our sustainability issues.

Energy is an area that needs to adapt to the current climate and there has been significant growth in renewable energy in Australia. It is predicted that half of our energy will be produced from renewable sources by 2050. This issue includes a report on the progress of renewables in Australia.

The disastrous earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, have led engineers tasked with rebuilding the city’s infrastructure to look outside the box and discover new materials and designs that are better suited to the environment than before. Read the full report on page 34.

Also, corrosion of sewer assets is a worldwide phenomenon, particularly in countries with a warm climate.

It is estimated that concrete sewer pipes in many areas of Australia are being corroded at an average rate of 1-3 mm per year or more. Our report from the Advanced Water Management Centre at The University of Queensland provides details on the challenges being faced and what is being done differently to achieve a better result.

April/May 2013

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Leading the way Water - can less be more?

8

Mixing it up with renewables

12

Case studies

22

Save energy and earn revenue

24

Research & development

24

Super-thin solar cells in 2020

27

Products & services

28

Advances in the management of corrosion in sewers

34

Designing a stronger Christchurch

37

Resource centre

Legislation, governance, programs and industry links to help guide y our sustainability development

38

Is north orientation best for me?

Carolyn Jackson sm@westwick-farrow.com.au

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Leading the way

Water - can less be more?

A

Rip Copithorn is GHD’s Global Technical Leader - Water. He has more than 37 years’ experience in water and wastewater engineering. This includes research and development, water pollution control equipment performance and evaluations, site planning, facilities planning, and preliminary and final design of water and wastewater facilities, construction management and computer modelling for process design.

He has also presented a number of seminars and papers regarding the upgrade of wastewater treatment facilities for nutrient removal.

On the resource recovery front, there are several processes available to recover and pelletise phosphorus from wastewater for use as a fertiliser. This is increasingly important as the world’s sources of virgin phosphorus ore are limited.

need to do more with less is a constant theme in most industries and utilities these days and the wastewater treatment industry is no exception.

The general goal of sustainable wastewater treatment includes a number of efforts that range from improving instrumentation and control systems to reduce chemical and energy demands, implementing treatment processes that are more efficient and incorporating resource recovery processes that recover treated water, phosphorus, nitrogen and power from the waste stream.

A leading trend illustrates that wastewater treatment is rebranding itself as a resource recovery industry.

Innovative technologies and processes are being developed that show much promise in achieving these goals of sustainability.

For facilities that must meet low level nutrient permits, novel processes using anammox (ANaerobic AMMonia OXidation) bacteria to eliminate nitrogen with much less demand for energy and chemical are showing promise. Anammox is a process that avoids having to oxidise ammonia all the way to nitrate (as in conventional biological nutrient removal), thus greatly reducing the amount of power required for aeration. Anammox does not require supplemental carbon for denitrification, thereby eliminating the cost of methanol addition. The process has been commercialised and is well proven as a sidestream treatment process to reduce the amount of ammonia being returned to main stream treatment by the sludge treatment process.

Research is currently underway to adopt anammox to mainstream treatment.

On the resource recovery front, there are several processes available to recover and pelletise phosphorus from wastewater for use as a fertiliser. This is increasingly important as the world’s sources of virgin phosphorus ore are limited. This technology is also proven and has been commercialised.

Water, of course, is also a renewable resource and advanced treatment processes to treat wastewater to increasingly more stringent levels for re-use are available.

The main impediment to re-use is not technology, but rather continues to be economics, regulatory issues and public perception.

But the demand for water in certain areas of the world continues to encourage re-use.

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The ‘water/energy nexus’ is getting increased attention as it is recognised that power generation requires water and water production requires power. Now, innovative projects to recycle water from wastewater treatment plants collocated with power plants and to re-use heat and power from the wastewater treatment plants in a sustainable cycle are appearing.

Some utilities have established the goal to have ‘net zero’ energy demand and even put energy back into the grid through improving treatment efficiency and the production of electricity from biogas.

There are advances in improving biogas production from waste sludge through predigestion processes that break down the biomass in waste sludge, making the organics more available for the generation of biogas. There are numerous technologies to produce energy from biosolids including pellitisation, gasification, slurrycarb, biodiesel production, hydrogen gas formation and pyrolysis. Technologies are available to use waste sludge as a fuel in the form of a solid, liquid or gas. Wastewater can be used to grow algae, which then becomes a feed stock to produce biodiesel fuels.

Technical advances provide much reason for optimism but in some ways we are our own worst enemy. The wastewater industry is typically very conservative and reluctant to embrace new technologies.

This is understandable given the regulatory pressures and penalties for non-compliance.

Large plants facing expensive upgrades can justify pilot projects to demonstrate developing technologies, but even then regulatory agencies, funding sources and utility owners can be reluctant to take the risk of incorporating innovative processes without an extensive track record.

Fortunately, there are organisations that recognise these impediments and are seeking to encourage innovation through collaboration between researchers, academic institutions, utilities and the engineering community. Organisations such as WEF, WERF, WaterRF, AWRCOE and others share the cost, the risk and the results of projects to demonstrate and improve technologies.

Hopefully this will accelerate the industry search for proven sustainable treatment alternatives. With this backing, wastewater treatment facilities in the future will look very different than the conventional treatment plants of today.

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Mixing it up with renewables Renewable energy sources are projected to account for about half of Australia’s electricity generation by 2049-50, according to the ‘Australian energy projections to 2049-50’, released by the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE). Wind will be the largest source of renewable generation (21% of total generation), while solar is projected to be the second largest (16%) and is the fastest growing over the projection period.

Sustainability Matters talks to Ivor Frischknecht*, CEO of the $3.2 billion Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), about the current and future trends for the renewable energy mix in Australia.

T What we can do is catalyse change and try to break down the barriers so that renewable technology and solutions that are not commercially viable today become commercially viable in the future.

he share of renewable energy generation has been growing rapidly in Australia. Currently, around 10% of Australia’s electricity generation comes from renewables, with the greatest portion of this coming from hydro at around 66%, wind 23%, bioenergy largely from sugar cane-based generation and some wood waste generation at 8% and solar 3% (although recent solar growth may not be fully captured in these statistics.

What technologies will be the winners?

There will be default technologies that provide the best economic fit but we don’t want to be prescriptive about the types of technologies that are best. The future for renewables in Australia will be a mix, each technology is potentially competitive in its own context. In the long term, wind and solar will obviously

8 Sustainability Matters - April/May 2013

be competitive with fossil fuel-based generation and already are in some areas, but they can also complement and offset one another and provide a multitechnology solution.

Solar thermal is more likely to be competitive when you have a direct use for the heat (eg, steam for industry process or heating) or if you need to store energy as it’s much easier to store energy from heat than it is to store electricity. Solar thermal is not as well developed as solar PV, so it will require more investment and have a longer development time frame before becoming commercial.

Earlier-stage technology such as wavepower (ARENA is supporting four different wave technologies) is currently in the demonstration phase and nowhere near being commercially viable. This technology is around 10-20 years away

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Renewable energy

© iStockphoto.com/Sergiy Serdyuk

from being viable but it could potentially be a competitive alternative to wind one day.

Geothermal is relatively valuable if you need base load-type energy. Our grid of course doesn’t currently need base load but we would not want to rule out geothermal. There may be a particular site where geothermal is the best solution, such as an island or a mine site that has a good geothermal source and needs a dispatchable base load energy.

There are also many other pieces to the puzzle that must be taken into account: What are the control systems?

What are the storage systems? How reliable is the sun? We can even look at the use of longer power lines to solve peak demands. For example, we could have a solar plant in western NSW linked to central Sydney and that will give you an extra half hour to an hour of sunshine to cover the peak demands of Sydney.

We’re focused on outcomes rather than the technology. Our view is to identify the problem and then look for a renewable solution but not necessarily to specify the technology. For example, we have identified a problem around off grid, particularly off grid mines, which have been paying huge amounts for diesel energy. We are now trying to find solutions that will be cheaper for

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them, if not immediately, hopefully over the long term. Given the fastest growing consumer of primary energy out to 2034-35 will be the mining sector (BREE 2011 Australian Energy Projects Report), this is an area where ARENA can have a big impact.

What are the constraints and barriers?

One constraint at ARENA is that we don’t have enough money to build the capital-intensive plants; we can’t buy renewable energy. What we can do is catalyse change and try to break down the barriers so that renewable technology and solutions that are not commercially viable today become commercially viable in the future.

With the early-stage technology we are supporting, this will be in the distant future. For others, it will be in the not-so-distant future. One such example is the flat panel solar system which we believe is now very close to being commercially viable. In Australia, the barriers for renewables have been a lack of experience with large-scale solar farms and EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) costs that are significantly more expensive compared to US and Europe, even adjusting for labour costs. Contingency costs are also a factor, as we have to allow for learning and training costs, supply chain

constraints and the cost of financing such capital-intensive projects. However, as the industry becomes more mature, these costs will come down.

What about grid parity?

If you are talking about the homeowner and what we call ‘socket parity’, then we’re there. The monthly cost of getting solar energy from your roof with solar PV is currently less expensive than buying electricity from the grid. But there is the problem of having to pay the $5000 to $10,000 up front to install the panels. This is an area where we can think about new business models. For example, in North America, the panels can be bought through a leasing scheme which has a similar payment stream to your electricity bill. However, instead of paying the energy company you’re paying the solar panel leasing company.

For large businesses and large-scale wind and solar farms, grid parity is not quite there yet in most situations.

The costs are still higher than generating power from coal and gas. However, if you include the value of the renewable energy credit and you’re talking about building a new coal-fired power station or a new wind farm, then a wind farm has achieved that parity. In fact, in some circumstances the wind farm is cheaper even without the certificate

April/May 2013 - Sustainability Matters 9

Renewable energy

What will happen to coal-fired power stations?

The costs of a new coal-fired power station are going up because of all the emission controls and associated costs.

Demand for base load energy is also going down particularly on the NEM (National Energy Market) and a lot of renewables are being put in. As a result, a number of older coal-fired power stations are being decommissioned and shut down. What we have been looking at is not only how to make use of existing infrastructure but how to make current plants more renewable and give them a new lease of life.

We have an existing project at the Kogan Creek Power plant in Queensland, run by CS Energy, which is putting in a solar thermal farm attached to the coal-fired plant to generate 44 GWh of additional electricity using the same amount of coal.

In another project, the Collinsville coal-fired power station in Northern Queensland is in the process of decommissioning and is investigating options to redevelop the site with one or more new forms of electricity generation, including solar thermal, solar photovoltaic and gas generation. The owner has been funded by ARENA and other sources to study the conversion to hybrid solar/gas while at the same time trying to re-use as much of the current infrastructure as possible, including connection to the grid, the boiler and other infrastrucuture. By doing this, the costs will be significantly reduced.

Plans for the future?

We are looking at mechanisms to make renewables more reliable and more valuable. In the longer term, we are focused on dispatchability [dispatchability is the ability of a power plant to be turned on quickly to a desired level of output] and how we can achieve this with renewables. We are thinking much more broadly than just storage, the key issue is that renewables have to be reliable and dispatchable and whether you achieve

Š iStockphoto.com/Gillies Lougassi

value factored in. A solar plant is probably about four or five years away from parity in most circumstances. However, the price of solar is coming down more rapidly than any other technology and even though wind is a relatively mature technology, its price continues to fall.

this with storage, integrated demand management or another option is still an open question.

One of the projects we are funding is the King Island Renewable Energy Integration project. Until recently, most power on King Island was provided by a single power station running four diesel generators. The project will integrate wind and solar energy and energy storage to provide both base load and peak power. A key feature of the system is the diesel uninterruptible power supply that allows existing diesel generation to be shut off during high wind periods.

A trial will also test biodiesel use with one of the existing diesel engines. This is an important project that will provide a working, replicable example of highpenetration renewable energy power, for both grid and off-grid.

The Regional Australia’s Renewables program is a new initiative that has just passed the consultation stage. It aims to demonstrate the viability of renewable energy in regional and remote locations and is mainly looking at diesel fuel replacement, which is costly in these areas.

Our existing Emerging Renewables Program is constantly evaluating new technologies and new programs are on the way. ARENA is also flexible and has the capacity to pursue strategic one-off projects.

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ARENA was established on 1 July 2012 as an independent statutory authority tasked with the objectives of improving the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies and increasing the supply of renewable energy in Australia. Grant funding is available through ARENA for investment in the research, development, demonstration, deployment and commercialisation of renewable energy and related technologies. Further information is available at www.arena.gov.au.

*Ivor Frischknecht commenced as ARENA CEO in August 2012.

He brings experience as former Investment Director of Starfish Ventures, which is a venture capital firm that manages $400 million primarily on behalf of Australian superannuation funds. His key activities included responsibility for the firm’s cleantech investment activities, including renewable energy.

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case study

Water management for regional community

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n integrated water project servicing the towns of Agnes Water and Seventeen Seventy in Queensland has been designed for growth across the region without causing environmental damage to the pristine environment. TRILITY was contracted by the Gladstone Regional Council to provide the new infrastructure, including a wastewater treatment facility and seawater desalination plant.

Agnes Water and Seventeen Seventy are towns located at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. Much of the surrounding area is home to pristine land and marine habitat including Deepwater National Park and nearby conservation parks.

The entire township is heritage listed, and as such, any new infrastructure requires particular environmental sensitivity and care.

The Gladstone Regional Council required an alternative water supply and improved wastewater treatment capacity for the towns.

Gladstone Regional Council said water supplies for the area had traditionally been sourced from the area’s limited groundwater resources. “Without additional water and improved use of all existing water resources, council had real concerns that supplies would be exhausted and the surrounding environment irreversibly harmed,” council said.

A number of solutions were investigated and it was decided that constructing a desalination plant installing a reticulation system and building a new wastewater treatment plant offered the best whole-oflife cost solution with minimal impacts on the community and environment. The council entered a 10-year, $40 million design, construct and operate contract with TRILITY. The desalination plant has a capacity of 1.5 ML/day with the potential of being upgraded to 7.5 ML/day. This is augmented by the multimedia filtration plant which is able to produce 0.5 ML/day. The wastewater treatment plant has a capacity of 0.6 ML/ day and discharges effluent to an irrigation system. It was critical that TRILITY work with relevant authorities to consider the plant’s footprint, visual amenities, performance requirements, monitoring requirements, noise and energy use.

The project’s engineers designed the plant to meet stringent noise level, energy-efficiency and environmental requirements. Construction was strictly monitored by the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management.

The focus on protecting the marine habitat intensified with the introduction of a horizontal directional drilling program that ultimately enabled the installation of a 600 m section of ocean intake and outfall pipelines. This work required the use of a 1.1 million pound horizontal directional drill and TRILITY had a small window of opportunity to finalise the program in order to work around turtle season.

The program involved sourcing specialised equipment from the US and the deployment of divers and local barges to install the pipeline on time and within specification.

Another critical step in the project was establishing a community engagement capability, with a comprehensive community consultation program created to ensure all community stakeholders were aware of the project and that ongoing dialogue would ensure any future impacts were mitigated or minimised during construction.

The project’s engineers designed the plant to meet stringent noise level, energyefficiency and environmental requirements.

Construction was strictly monitored by the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management.

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All Seventeen Seventy properties have now been provided with a connection to the new water supply while self-sufficient properties have a water connection for immediate or future use.

Seventeen Seventy property owners are now being connected to the council’s reticulated sewerage system. This eliminates the need for disposal trenches on private properties while providing a safe and environmentally sustainable sewerage solution for residents.

“Residents are seeing immediate benefits from the project following the design and construction of the Seventeen Seventy water reticulation pipelines and the Seventeen Seventy sewer system,” said TRILITY Managing Director Francois Gouws.

“While the wastewater treatment plant is not yet complete, the benefits are literally already flowing.”

Gouws said TRILITY thrived on the opportunity to develop the project in line with stakeholder expectations and the council and community’s requirements.

TRILITY Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/T333

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case studies index  Water management for regional community

Solar installation for Club Sapphire 12

 Solar installation for Club Sapphire

14

 The case for compostable bags 16  Battery solution for energy distributor

 Energy management to help councils

 Commercial solar solution for national park

 Safe removal of acid sludge tanks

17 17 18 18

research & development index  Renewable energy cooling for supercomputer

20

 Predicting water consumption 21  CSIRO ‘solar sponge’ soaks up CO2 emissions

 Biofuel research and

development in the lab

25 26

Todae Solar has announced the completion of a 94.75 kW grid-connect solar power system on the roof of Club Sapphire in Merimbula, NSW. The installation was commissioned as part of the Solar in Clubs Program through Clubs’ Sustainable Futures and Solar Choice, servicing the NSW Club industry.

Todae Solar was awarded the project through a competitive tender managed by Solar Choice. The system comprises 379 Suntech 250 W modules with five SMA Tripower inverters and has an expected output of 124,593 kWh per year.

“Todae Solar provided an excellent service in managing the entire project from their outstanding tender document through to installation and they have continued to provide an excellent service after the installation,” said Club Sapphire CEO Damien Foley.

According to output data since inception, the solar system has been performing above expectations.

14 Sustainability Matters - April/May 2013

“The system has only been on the roof for a short period but we are already seeing the benefits, both in the reduction in energy usage but also the fantastic response we have had from our members and the wider community to the initiative,” said Foley.

The system is expected to not only generate significant energy savings for Club Sapphire but also have a large impact on the carbon footprint of the club. It is expected to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 165 tonnes of CO2 annually - the equivalent of 68 small cars off the road. The installation was completed in four weeks according to design and specification. Foley said, “We are proud of our partnership with Todae Solar and look forward to the many years of financial and environmental benefits from the system.”

Todae Solar Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/T373

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case studies The case for compostable bags The ACT Government has recently released its Interim Review of the Plastic Shopping Bags Ban, and the results are intriguing.

The plastic bag ban has certainly changed consumer behaviour with 84% of primary shoppers reportedly now taking re-usable bags to the supermarket, a significant increase from 44%. Support for the program is also strong with 58% supporting the plastic bag ban, due largely to concerns about the environment, a trend which was even higher in the younger age bracket.

Strong support for environmental strategies is not surprising as community awareness of sustainability issues increase; however the feedback from those less enthusiastic about the ban offers some interesting insights. The research indicated that people who objected to the ban felt it wasn’t effective in reducing the incidence of plastic bags in the waste stream, they felt it was inconvenient, and they objected to having to purchase bin liners to replace the shopping bags they previously used.

Supporting this claim, the initial research indicates that additional bin liner sales actually increased by around 31% after the ban. While this is less than half of what was predicted, it is still an area for concern as a proportion of prohibited shopping bags are simply substituted for purchased bin liners in landfill.

Added to this, a recent study in the US examined the link between plastic bag bans and increases in food-related illnesses. This study concluded that the use of unwashed, re-usage shopping bags as a replacement for plastic bags increased the risk of exposure to dangerous bacteria, and so illness.

The need to provide a solution which meets the requirements for convenience, hygiene and environmental benefits is challenging, however Australian-certified compostable bags, such as Compost-A-

Pak may hold the answer. A small but growing number of Australian local councils are now providing certified compostable CompostA-Pak bags as part of household food recycling services. These services have been successful, as they provide the convenience of bin liners, which are then either disposed of with food organics in household composters, or once collected, processed within industrial composting facilities. Katie Burnett from Jeffries, one of Australia’s leading organics processing companies, points to the Compost-A-Pak as a key element in the success of such programs.

With food scraps up to 40% of household waste, the benefits of such composting programs in terms of reduced greenhouse gas emissions and increased recovery of valuable nutrient for use in farming and agriculture are significant.

As the availability of such collection services and organics processing facilities improve, the potential benefits of certified compostable bags as a real alternative to plastic bags increases. Using Compost-APak bags, residents retain the benefits of convenience and hygiene provided by a disposable bag, and can continue to re-use the bags as bin liners.

Once soiled or after transporting general waste to the outside bins, Compost-A-Pak liners can be simply disposed of in household composters or collected with green waste to be composted in composting facilities.

With estimations that Australians are only recycling 3% of plastic bags and continue to dump 429,000 recyclable plastic bags into landfill every hour, better solutions are urgently needed.

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case studies Battery solution for energy distributor

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Energy management to help councils Responding to requests from users, Halytech has improved its Illuminator sports-field lighting management system to monitor energy use and, where appropriate, enable councils to charge for it.

With the cost of electricity continuing to climb, local government authorities are looking for ways to monitor their energy consumption and, where appropriate, adopt a user-pays approach to the use of their facilities. At up to 2 kW per lamp in a typical floodlight, the cost of running the lights on a typical sports field can be expensive; about $7 per hour. With 10 sports fields running for four hours a night, five nights a week, the cost can be about $1400 a week. Many councils have many more than 10 fields.

Illuminator, which enables users to control sports-field lighting using their mobile phone, ensures that floodlights are only used when required which, in itself, helps to minimise energy use. It can now read an electricity meter at the start and finish times of a session and send the meter readings to council, further assisting councils in their efforts to reduce energy use.

For those users who already have Illuminator installed, their units can be upgraded to take advantage of this new feature.

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ABB, together with the Canton of Zurich’s power company (EKZ), has successfully installed a 1 MW power battery solution at the Dietikon Powerplant. The battery is integrated with ABB’s PCS100 ESS (Energy Storage System) and is said to be the largest of its kind to be installed in the Swiss distribution network. By improving power quality and grid stabilisation, the PCS100 ESS will help preserve 500 kWh of energy - the equivalent consumed by a four-person household in 40 days.

A reliable and efficient grid connection is key to this public utility. The prime function of ABB’s system is to provide a spinning reserve of power in the event of power plant or transmission line equipment failure. By using power electronics and advanced control, the PCS100 ESS looks like a traditional synchronous machine to the power system. There are no large spinning masses. Even inertia can be modelled within the system, enabling it to deliver or draw power to and from the grid, dependent on the system frequency and rate of change. Should the grid supply be lost the system can detect this, disconnect from the grid and shut down.

The solutions included a frequency converter that uses efficient power semiconductor technology to convert the AC supply into DC for use via the battery, and vice versa. The battery is equipped with ABB control and protection systems. Based on the input parameters and the defined equipment footprint, it was decided to package the system in a freestanding outdoor enclosure.

This technology enables power plants, like the Dietikon Powerplant in Switzerland, to operate at their full potential without the interruption of voltage sags and swells.

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April/May 2013 - Sustainability Matters 17

case studies Commercial solar solution for national park

When the National Parks and Wildlife Service needed to power some of its facilities across Northern NSW, Nickel Energy provided advice on the best solution.

By understanding the needs, budget and strict guidelines around the government solar installation, Nickel Energy provided tailored solutions across multiple locations, installing more than 15 kW of solar energy.

This has resulted in significant financial savings for each of the sites, as well as reducing environmental improvements. Having installed more than 4.3 mW of solar energy, Nickel Energy can tailor a solution to suit small, medium and large businesses, organisations and government bodies.

Nickel Energy Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/T449

18 Sustainability Matters - April/May 2013

Safe removal of acid sludge tanks Environmental consultants Enviropacific were engaged when Nyrstar needed to safely remove two redundant acid storage tanks at its Tasmanian plant.

Nyrstar’s Lutana plant produces both zinc metal and pure sulfuric acid and the two steel tanks were designed to hold 1800 tonnes of acid each, stood 8 m high and were 10 m in diameter. Enviropacific was tasked with neutralising and removing the residual sulfuric acid sludge that remained within the tanks and the tank surfaces also required cleaning before inspection and removal off-site. Enviropacific faced particular challenges as the tanks were located amongst several other tanks in active service and access to the tanks was limited by space and gradient restrictions.

Additionally, a Hot Works zone overlay was present along with working-at-height and high-reach equipment permits on a daily basis.

Enviropacific reports that over 1000 man hours were carried out on the project, with no LTIs, medical incidents or environmental issues. None of the live equipment or serviceable tanks were affected and there was minimal impact, if any, on the day-today operations of the facility.

Enviropacific Services Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/S806

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research & development

Renewable energy cooling for supercomputer The development of a renewable system for cooling Australia’s largest supercomputer is one step closer following the start of an innovative geothermal energy project in Perth.

In what will be an Australian first, the CSIRO Geothermal Project will deliver a novel solution for cooling the Pawsey Centre supercomputer, an $80 million facility currently under construction in Kensington, south Perth.

“The system is known as groundwater cooling and works by pumping cool water from a depth of around 100 m through an above-ground heat exchanger to cool the supercomputer, then re-injecting the water underground again,” said CSIRO project director Steve Harvey.

“Although the water returned to the aquifer is a few degrees warmer than the surrounds, the groundwater cooling system is engineered to prevent negative impacts to the surrounding environment.”

With zero net use of groundwater, the system is also environmentally friendly.

CSIRO estimates that using groundwater cooling to cool the Pawsey Centre supercomputer will save approximately 38.5 million litres of water every year in comparison to using conventional cooling towers. That’s enough to fill more than 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools. If deployed more widely, the technology also has the potential to replace cooling towers in buildings all over Perth. Drilling work to implement

the groundwater cooling system has recently got underway at the Australian Resources Research Centre (ARRC) in Kensington’s Technology Park - the same site that houses the Pawsey Centre supercomputer. The challenge of cooling the petascale computing system - which will provide expertise to support the world’s largest ever radio telescope (the Square Kilometre Array) and other highend science - was one of the driving forces behind the CSIRO Geothermal Project.

“Computers generate lots of heat, as anyone who has sat with a laptop on their knees will know,” said Harvey.

“Supercomputers, as you can imagine, use large amounts of electrical power, almost all of which is turned into heat and requires cooling. Recent global changes in the cooling requirements for supercomputers, however, means that we can now use water of an ambient temperature, as opposed to chilled water. That’s where groundwater cooling comes in.”

As well as using a shallow geothermal solution to cool the supercomputer, the CSIRO Geothermal Project will also investigate a potentially deeper geothermal energy resource located beneath the ARRC site by constructing a 3 km deep exploration well later this year. The initiative is part of the Sustainable Energy for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project supported by the federal government’s Education Investment Fund.

20 Sustainability Matters - April/May 2013

Contractors carry out works for the groundwater cooling aspect of the CSIRO Geothermal Project in Perth, Western Australia.

Professor Klaus Regenauer-Lieb and Jacqui Cook discuss groundwater cooling for the CSIRO Geothermal Project.

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research & development Predicting water consumption Andrew Collins

Water services provider Veolia has used Australian software in a European trial of water demand prediction, achieving an accuracy rate of 99.5%. Veolia wanted to create a detailed simulation to model more than 160,000 residential water consumers in Nice, France.

Veolia Environment Research & Innovation (VERI) Urban Modelling expert Dr David Mouquet, said: “We were looking for a mathematical alternative to classical statistical solutions (linear regression, time series analysis, etc) that would allow us to draw some scenario of long-term evolution of water demand of the residential sector.”

The company used the Simulait software, an online tool for simulation-based consumer analytics, which was developed by Australian company Intelligent Software Development (ISD).

The software simulates a population of consumers to help predict how people will behave and allows users to run scenarios to test options for influencing that behaviour.

“We chose Nice city for two reasons. First, because water consumption there is mainly residential (95%) and Simulait had already been used for residential water demand. Secondly, because our business unit had already collected a lot of water consumption data on Nice,” Mouquet said.

Veolia used historical water demand data from the year 2000 to calibrate Simulati’s model. The company then forecasted data from 2001 through to 2010.

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“We used a modelling technique which is quite different to classical statistical methods. Simulait is based on an agent-based modelling approach. We focused on the human behaviour related to water consumption, including how much households consume during their quotidian activity according to their sociodemographic characteristics and their dwelling characteristics (house or apartment).”

The organisation also looked at external influences on human behaviour, like meteorological conditions and water restrictions imposed by local authorities.

“For our case we used both data already implemented in Simulait (mainly water consumption ratios of appliances, human behaviour rules and appliance technology penetration in residential sector) and data specific to Nice city (census data, garden composition, meteorological data and, of course, water consumption).”

The company then matched the predictions from Simulait to the real-world 2011 usage figures - the most recent year for which data was available - and found the model obtained an accuracy level of 99.5%. It has used the software to look beyond 2011 into the future. “Thanks to the modelling, we were able to see possible trajectories of water demand up to 2020. This information is important for our business unit, as it allows us to discuss water prices with local authorities and also to plan investments related to water production equipment.”

April/May 2013 - Sustainability Matters 21

What if businesses were told that they could use less energy and get paid more for it? Demand response programs in Australia and New Zealand can do just that; Jeff Renaud, Director, ANZ, of EnerNOC, explains how they work.

Save energy and earn revenue

T

urning off unused lighting, migrating from desktop computers to Energy Star laptops and using office equipment with high energy ratings can improve efficiencies and reduce utility bills. Energy reductions are good business practice, but beyond the savings that organisations realise through their own initiatives, there are larger, more immediate opportunities that exist to engage in smart and effective energy use. Demand response (DR) programs are available in many parts to the world to help businesses turn short-term reductions in consumption into additional revenue streams for their organisation.

Demand response is a broad term used to describe the act of modifying energy use in response to supply signals. Instead of generating more power when the demand for electricity increases, many electricity operators are now operating DR programs where they pay to engage commercial and industrial organisations to perform energy reductions. Organisations participating in the DR program can realise financial benefits both in the form of lower energy prices and significant participation payments The varying needs of the grid have

22 Sustainability Matters - April/May 2013

led to the creation of several different types of markets and corresponding DR programs, each with its own functions and benefits.

Some markets can offer more than one program at a time, which provides extensive opportunities for interested businesses to participate in multiple programs simultaneously. This may seem confusing at first, but organisations can quickly realise the many benefits from participating in DR programs, so it is worth gaining a better understanding of what opportunities are available in the local electricity markets.

DR programs in Australia and New Zealand In Australia: Capacity markets, such as the one in Western Australia (WA), are electricity markets that forecast how much energy is needed to meet projected demand.

To ensure that there is always enough supply, the market operator also incorporates ‘reserve capacity’, which includes the use of peaking power plants and DR resources.

When electricity use spikes to risky levels, posing the threat of a supply interruption, these reserve resources are ‘dispatched’.

While both resources are reliable, DR is a cleaner alternative as it reduces demand instead of generating more supply - after all, the greenest kWh is the one never used.

Programs in capacity markets provide advanced notification of potential grid emergencies, typically four to six hours ahead, allowing organisations to prepare for dispatch participation and the impact of supply interruptions, eg, brownouts and blackouts. This type of DR program suits a range of industries - everything from small dairies to large mining sites, commercial property buildings and manufacturing facilities. Methods of participation may vary, but many facilities choose to reduce energy by shutting down non-essential equipment or processes, or switching to on-site generation through the dispatch period.

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Demand response

In Eastern Australia, network programs, developed jointly with local transmission and distribution (T&D) companies, implement DR to address network constraints.

These constraints typically occur over infrastructure maintenance periods and can help prevent unexpected and otherwise unavoidable supply failure and costly upgrades. These programs are seasonal in nature and often exist for only one to two years. Similarly, companies across virtually any industry can participate. Response times usually vary by program but can be as long as 24 hours advanced notification for DR dispatches. Participation in network programs is usually limited to specific geographic locations, as reductions are most effective closer to the constraint itself.

In New Zealand: In the Lower North Island (LNI) of New Zealand, electricity trading is conducted in real time, creating what is known as an energy market. This type of exchange allows for DR programs to directly affect the price of electricity. When demand is reduced, the price of electricity will follow, which benefits both the participating organisation and wholesale market at large.

Organisations are provided with an average of two hours’ notice and are dispatched for a few hours at a time. Again, a range of industries are well suited to participate.

Retail properties, plastics manufacturing facilities and data centre companies are just

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Instead of generating more power when the demand for electricity increases, many electricity operators are now operating DR programs where they pay to engage commercial and industrial organisations to perform energy reductions.

some of the different types of organisations that participate. Reductions are designed to work around critical load and core business operations. Alternatively, facilities can choose to use on-site generation of energy.

Ancillary services markets service the delicate balancing act of frequency on the grid. If grid frequency varies from its optimal point, it can cause generators connected to the grid to go ‘out of phase’ and trip, causing a major event such as a blackout.

Energy reduction plans are implemented within one second to one minute of this change to quickly help keep it in balance, through the use of sophisticated DR technology. This program predominantly attracts industrial organisations, such as paper and pulp manufacturers and cold storage facilities, which are able to turn off grinders, pumps and fans to quickly remove load temporarily. This has little impact on operations, as business functions resume normally when the frequency returns to normal, and can happen within a minute or a maximum of 30 minutes.

In addition to the financial benefits, DR

programs in these markets also support the continuous use of renewable, intermittent sources of energy, like wind and hydro, in New Zealand.

Why participate in DR programs Demand response programs help keep the electricity grid stable by providing an alternative to the standard supply = demand equation. By reducing demand rather than increasing supply, DR helps contribute to more efficient grids and lower electricity prices. For businesses, DR provides the opportunity to take proactive steps towards protecting your operations while yielding additional revenue. It’s important to remember that there are a number of ways your organisation can participate without compromising your deliverables, and energy management specialists are available to help make the most of the DR program available.

EnerNOC Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/T334

April/May 2013 - Sustainability Matters 23

Super-thin solar cells in 2020

O Nanoscientists at the University of Oslo are currently developing the next generation of solar cells which will be 20 times thinner than current solar cells.

Our trick is to deceive the sunlight into staying longer in the solar cell and this extends the duration of the sunlight’s passage within the solar cell,” explains Erik Marstein, Head of the Norwegian Research Centre for Solar Cell Technology. This is called light harvesting.

ver 90% of the current electricity generated by solar panels is made by silicon plates that are 200 micrometres thick several billion of these are produced every year. The problem is the large consumption and wastage of silicon during the production of solar cells.

“About 100,000 tonnes of silicon are consumed every year. However, there is obviously something fundamentally wrong when half of the silicon must be thrown away during the manufacturing process,” says Erik Marstein, Head of the Norwegian Research Centre for Solar Cell Technology, the Head of Research for the solar cell unit at the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) at Kjeller outside of Oslo and an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Oslo (UiO), Norway.

Together with Professor Aasmund Sudbø in the Department of Physics, Marstein is at the forefront of the development of the next generation of solar cells that are expected to come on the market in five to seven years.

“The thinner the solar cells become, the easier it is to extract the electricity. In principle, there will therefore be a higher voltage and more electricity in thinner cells. We are now developing solar cells that are at least as good as the current ones, but that can be made with just one twentieth of the silicon. This means that the consumption of silicon can be reduced by 95%,” says Marstein to the research magazine Apollon at University of Oslo.

However, there is a big but! The thinner the plates, the less sunlight is trapped. This has to do with the wavelengths of light.

Blue light has a much shorter wavelength than red light. Blue light can be trapped

by plates that are only a few micrometres thick. In order to trap the red light, the silicon plate must be almost one millimetre thick. For infrared light, the plate must be even thicker. “This is where the magic comes in. Our trick is to deceive the sunlight into staying longer in the solar cell and this extends the duration of the sunlight’s passage within the solar cell,” explains Erik Marstein. This is called light harvesting.

His research group is now making a back sheet peppered with periodic structures, to be able to decide exactly where the light should go. They have managed to force the light to move sideways.

“We can increase the apparent thickness 25 times by forcing the light up and down all the time. We have calculated what this back sheet must look like and are currently studying which structures work.”

One of the options is to cover the entire back sheet with Uglestad microbeads, a Norwegian invention. Uglestad microbeads are very small plastic spheres; each sphere is exactly the same size.

“We are now investigating whether this and other methods can be scaled up for industrial production.

“Cylinders, cones and hemispheres are symmetrical shapes. We have proposed a number of structures that break the symmetry. Our calculations show that asymmetrical microindentations can trap even more of the sunlight,” says Marstein. In practice, this means that 20 micrometre solar cells with symmetrical micro indentations are as effective as 16 micrometre plates with asymmetrical indentations. This means that silicone consumption can be reduced by another 20%.

“Our main goal has been to get the same amount of electricity from thinner cells. We will be very satisfied even if our new solar cells are 30 micrometres,” notes Professor Aasmund Sudbø.

The new solar cells are produced in different ways, for instance by splitting the thin silicone foil or growing thin silicon films. Silicon wastage is minimised.

Professor Aasmund Sudbø and Head of Research Erik Marstein have used all kinds of wonderful tricks with light to reduce the thickness of solar cells by 95%.

Photo: Yngve Vogt

24 Sustainability Matters - April/May 2013

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CSIRO ‘solar sponge’ soaks up CO2 emissions CSIRO scientists have created a ‘solar sponge’ that captures and then releases carbon dioxide using the power of natural sunlight, as published in scientific journal Angewandte Chemie.

The breakthrough presents a new way to recycle CO 2 emissions using renewable energy. The ‘sponge’, which is made from a smart material called a MOF (metal-organic framework), adsorbs carbon dioxide, but when exposed to sunlight it instantaneously releases it.

Known as dynamic photo-switching, this capture-and-release method is extremely energy efficient and only requires UV light to trigger the release of CO2 after it has been captured from the mixture of exhaust gases.

Dr Matthew Hill, who was awarded a 2012 Eureka Prize for his MOF research and led the CSIRO group conducting this research, said: “The capture and release process can be compared to soaking up water with a sponge and then wringing it out. When UV light hits the material its structure bends and twists and stored gas is released.

“This is an exciting development for carbon capture because concentrated solar energy can be used instead of further coal-based energy to drive the process.” The traditional process for CO2 capture has been to use liquid absorbers, such as amines, to remove flue

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research & development

gases at a coal-fired power station before they are released into the atmosphere. They are then heated to release the CO2, which is then stored and can be re-used. This process can consume as a much as 30% of a power plant’s production capacity.

MOFs absorb as much as a litre of nitrogen gas in just one gram of material.

This is possible because MOFs have the surface area of a football field in just one gram, meaning that gases can be soaked up like a sponge to all of the internal surfaces within.

In their paper ‘Dynamic Photo-Switching in Metal Organic Frameworks as a Route to Low Energy Carbon Dioxide Capture and Release’, the CSIRO researchers show that when exposed to concentrated UV light the MOF sponge instantaneously releases up to 64% of absorbed CO2.

Lead researcher and author of the paper Richelle Lyndon, who is also a Monash University student, said: “The MOFs are impregnated with light-responsive azobenzene molecules which react to UV light and trigger the release of CO2. It is this reaction, and the material’s ability to bend and flex, which makes the material we have created so unique.” The work was funded by the Science and Industry Endowment Fund.

April/May 2013 - Sustainability Matters 25

research & development Biofuel research and development in the lab

By Jim Mulry, the Clinical Development Manager at EMD Millipore, a division of Merck, KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

Merck Millipore is the developer and manufacturer of the benchtop Guava HT series flow cytometers for the research laboratory. Assays have been developed on the Guava instruments for research and production of oils from algae, the development of natural gas from coal and the production of fuels from bacteria.

The research of algae to oil begins with species selection. Of the more than 10,000 species of algae, about 300 species produce the proper lipids required to develop oil.

Powerful Millipore Incyte software used by the Guava instruments allows multifaceted intracellular testing to determine which species will maximise lipid production.

The instruments count and measure the cells for viability, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll phenotyping and lipid content to determine the species that will achieve maximum production. The algae are harvested. Lipids are separated to produce algae crude. The algae crude is refined to produce different grades of oil used in the production of biofuels and lubricants. In addition, the algae crude has been successfully developed to produce omega oils used in nutritional products.

Algae oil has been refined and employed to power commercial planes. The US Navy has used algae diesel to help power its destroyers. Companies like Solazyme have developed lipids from algae for the production of omega oils and nutritional food additives.

Companies including Luca Technologies and Ciris Energy are researching coal to produce natural gas. There are millions of miles of abandoned coal mines around the globe.

These companies purchase these mines. Coal samples are taken to the laboratory and tested for the presence of anaerobes. Like algae, anaerobes devour carbon. A byproduct of the digestion of the coal by anaerobes is the production of natural gas. Coal samples are transported to the laboratory where the coal is crushed into a powder and washed. The samples are then stained with a proprietary marker to identify the anaerobes. Anaerobes are counted using Guava instrumentation. A count threshold is maintained. If enough anaerobes are present, the mines are tapped for natural gas.

Where the count is low, anaerobes are grown and placed in the mines. In about two years, these anaerobes devour enough coal to have the mine ready to tap more natural gas.

Bacteria are being used in the production of ethanol from sugar. California-based companies, like Amyris, develop these ‘super bugs’ to digest sugars to produce gases that are refined into ethanol.

Other companies, including Codexis, develop bacteria for the production of enzymes that assist in the manufacturing of chemicals. The Guava instruments are used to count and test viability of bacteria and measure the cell growth of bacteria populations.

All of these technologies developed to produce oils and gas are carbon reducing.

Investment into research is being made to eliminate our worldwide dependence on fossil. Merck Millipore will continue to develop technologies used to enhance biofuels production.

Merck Pty Limited Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/T339

26 Sustainability Matters - April/May 2013

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Energy-efficient wastewater products

Solar cable AS5033.2012 is calling for all DC cabling to be PV1-F compliant. PV1-F is a test criterion from TÜV Rheinland, which covers the electrical and mechanical properties of the cable.

The Ölflex Solar XLRR cable is approved by TÜV Rheinland according to 2PfG 1169/08.2007 (PV1-F) and meets all the requirements of AS5033.2012.

The cables are weather-, abrasion- and UVresistant. The cross-linked solar cables are suitable for permanent outdoor use and especially for the interconnection of grounded and ungrounded photovoltaic power systems.

Constructed using class 5 tinned copper conductors with halogen-free and flame-retardant double insulation, they are rated up to 120°C. They are available in SDI and TWIN versions.

Xylem has launched a number of energy-saving Flygt and Wedeco products that can help users lower costs and get an overview of their energy use.

The Flygt APP 800 pump and process controller, designed to control water and wastewater transport systems, helps users to have a better overview of the cost of their pumping operations by showing the volume of liquid that’s being pumped and the amount of energy being consumed to pump that liquid. This enables users to know where their critical focus should be on improving energy consumption.

The mid-sized Flygt 4530 mixer for biological wastewater treatment applications is said to use up to 50% less energy than compact mixers. Its rigid propeller, with a thin-section design that incorporates generous backsweep and double curvature, is built to be efficient and dependable.

The Wedeco Duron open-channel ultraviolet disinfection system treats wastewater using a minimal amount of energy, due to the use of Xylem’s powerful and energy-efficient Ecoray lamps and ballasts. It also requires less space than other UV systems due to its small size.

Xylem Water Solutions Australia Limited Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/S684

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April/May 2013 - Sustainability Matters 27

Corrosion of sewer assets is a worldwide phenomenon, particularly in countries with a warm climate. It is estimated that concrete sewer pipes in many areas of Australia are being corroded at an average rate of 1-3 mm per year or more. Hence, instead of providing service for 50 to 100 years as recorded in water utilities asset registers, sewer pipes are failing after 20 years or less. Internal surveys by several major water utilities in Australia show that the abnormally fast depreciation of assets and the mitigation of corrosion problems alone are costing the Australian water industry hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Advances in the management of corrosion in sewers Ray Rootsey, Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld, Australia

S

ewer corrosion and odour are closely linked. Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) is generated under anaerobic conditions in sewers, mainly in long rising mains, and this is the main source of obnoxious odours emanating from sewers.

This same H2S is also the main cause of accelerated corrosion in sewers due to the work of bacteria which convert the H2S under aerobic conditions, mainly in the headspace of gravity sewers, to sulfuric acid.

Management of corrosion in sewer systems is experiencing significant new challenges. Restricted water use in many areas results in considerably reduced flows. This has resulted in more concentrated sewage and increased hydraulic retention time resulting in higher H2S concentrations. Also, the expansion of sewer networks in many cities to service fringe developments and new estates are making hydraulic retention times in sewer networks longer and more subject to anaerobic conditions, which is exacerbated by greater reliance on pumping stations to connect these new areas.

In an effort to address these challenges, most of the major water utilities in Australia are jointly funding, along with the Australian Research Council (ARC), a major project - the Sewer Corrosion & Odour Research (SCORe) Project which started in late 2008 and will run for five years with a total budget of around $20 million.

The project comprises four themes, which are: • Theme 1 - Corrosion processes, • Theme 2 - Gas phase technologies, • Theme 3 - Liquid phase control, and • Theme 4 - Knowledge management.

Nine inter-linked subprojects (SP) have been designed under these themes, each has distinctive foci and is being undertaken by a dedicated research team of people who are located at one or more research centres around Australia.

Research on the SCORe Project covers both corrosion and odour; however, this article focuses on the significant advances in the management of corrosion in sewers being achieved by the project.

A full coverage of the outcomes being delivered to the water industry by the SCORe Project is available on the project website www.score.org.au.

Prediction of H2S generation in sewers Improved understanding through the SCORe Project of physical, chemical and biological processes occurring within sewers has led to the development of an advanced mathematical model which is capable of predicting both spatial and temporal variations in H2S concentration as well as other sewer parameters including GHG emissions.

This sulfide generation model, the SeweX Model, has been linked to sewer hydraulic models such as MOUSE to predict the dynamic changes in sulfur compounds within the sewer system as a result of changing sewer characteristics such as diurnal variations.

Bacterial activity and the rate of corrosion

(A) Labscale experimental setup

(B) Sampling in the field

28 Sustainability Matters - April/May 2013

The SCORe Project has used newly developed genomic analytical methods to identify the bacterial communities present during corrosion of concrete sewers below pH 4. These studies have identified a far greater diversity of bacteria, which suggests that Acidithiobacillus

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© iStockphoto.com/Olivier Lantzendörffer

Wastewater management

thiooxidans (the traditionally thought of culprit) may not be the sole bacterium responsible for corrosion of the sewers at low pH and that other processes may also be involved. This research is continuing and promises to reveal a far greater fundamental understanding of corrosion processes at low pH. Also, a better understanding of concrete corrosion processes at neutral and high pH is being developed. The role of carbon dioxide in the early corrosion processes has been found to be far less important than previously thought and that H2S concentration is the far more dominant factor in the early corrosion processes. Temperature and relative humidity also influence the rate of corrosion at neutral and high pH. Concrete corrosion in sewers is being studied both in the field, with specially prepared coupons in six locations in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and under controlled conditions in 36 corrosion cabinets in a laboratory. In addition, historic records of corrosion and environmental conditions are being analysed with the objective to develop a new

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Management of corrosion in sewer systems is experiencing significant new challenges. Restricted water use in many areas results in considerably reduced flows...Also, the expansion of sewer networks in many cities to service fringe developments and new estates are making hydraulic retention times in sewer networks longer and more subject to anaerobic conditions, which is exacerbated by greater reliance on pumping stations to connect these new areas.

fundamental process-based corrosion model to be able to accurately predict concrete corrosion rates in sewers under all conditions.

Liquid phase control methods A recent survey carried out by the SCORe Project identified that there are five chemicals added to sewer flows for the control of gaseous H2S concentrations in sewers that are now popularly used by the Australian water industry: • Magnesium hydroxide, • Sodium hydroxide, • Nitrate, • Iron salts, and • Oxygen.

Detailed laboratory and field testing has been conducted with these five chemicals to gain a better understanding of the physical, chemical and biological processes involved with each chemical to enable: • Optimal dosing rates, • Appropriate dosing locations, and • Mathematical modelling of the processes.

The development of the SeweX model for predicting H2S generation in sewers can now be used to do desktop evaluation of the performance of various chemicals with various dosing locations to optimise the control method selected.To further optimise the dosing of chemicals, online control strategies have been developed for

April/May 2013 - Sustainability Matters 29

Wastewater management the five popular chemicals using a level of sophistication of sensors appropriate to the application. Savings in chemical use of up to 50% have been achieved with the use of online control.

In addition to optimising the use of the popular chemicals for control of gaseous H2S, the SCORe Project has developed two new methods: • Free Nitric Acid (FNA), and • In-sewer electrochemical generation of chemicals for control of H2S. FNA has a strong biocidal effect on the biofilm in sewer pipes that generate the H2S. This control method is very cost effective as the FNA can be dosed intermittently as the biocidal effect has been found to reduce H2S generation by more than 50% for up to 14 days.

An exciting new method for control of H2S in sewers is by generation of chemicals such as sodium hydroxide and oxygen within the sewer by electrochemical process to control the generation of H2S. This method has enormous potential as the overall cost is much less than traditional chemical dosing methods and avoids the transport and storage of large amounts of hazardous chemicals.

A laboratory method used in the SCORe Project, called the SCORe-CT method, can now be used to evaluate prospective odour control additives for sewers. This allows new odour control additives (chemicals or biological agents) to be evaluated under controlled laboratory conditions where one wastewater line has the additive dosed and the other wastewater line is used as a control.

This removes the natural variations that occur in the field that make evaluation of additives open to interpretation.

Figure 1: An overview of the design of the SCORe Project.

proved very difficult to predict. In association with Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) in the USA, the SCORe Project has developed a new ventilation model which has proved in field testing in Adelaide and Perth to be much more reliable than previous models.

A spreadsheet-based tool has been developed which can be used to predict both natural and forced ventilation air movements in sewers.This SCORe Ventilation Tool is now being used by many of the water utilities involved in the project.

The new ventilation algorithm is also being used in a supplementary component of the SeweX Model to provide a virtual dynamic prediction of air movements and gas phase H2S concentrations within a sewer network.

Ventilation of sewers The objectives of ventilation systems in sewers are to: • Maintain zero relative velocity between wastewater and ventilating air to minimise the rate of H2S emission and evaporation from the wastewater surface, and/or • Change the air sufficiently to maintain dry sewer structures at all times, (ie, never allow the air dew point to exceed wall temperature); and • Minimise the build up of H2S in the sewer air.

Achieving these objectives with natural ventilated systems has always

30 Sustainability Matters - April/May 2013

Conclusion Approximately four years into its five-year lifetime, the SCORe Project has achieved many milestones and has been able to provide to industry partners many valuable deliverables, some of which have already caused major changes to industry practices and decision making.

By developing a greater fundamental understanding of the processes involved in various aspects of corrosion, the water industry will be able to move from a reactive approach of prematurely rehabilitating or replacing valuable assets to being able to control rates of corrosion to allow sewers to achieve their full designed service life.

Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge the Sewer Corrosion and Odour Research (SCORe) Project LP0882016 funded by an Australian Research Council Industry Linkage Project Grant and supported financially and inkind by the following key members of the Australian water industry: Sydney Water Corporation, NSW; Water Corporation, Western Australia; Gold Coast City Council, Queensland; South East Water, Victoria; Melbourne Water Corporation, Victoria; Hunter Water Corporation, NSW; South Australia Water Corporation; Barwon Regional Water Corporation, Vic; CH2M Hill Australia; Water Quality Research Australia; Veolia Water, Australia; ACTEW Water, ACT; Queensland Urban Utilities, Queensland; Yarra Valley Water, Victoria; District of Columbia Water, USA; and acknowledge the work done by the Research Partners led by the following Chief Investigators and their teams: Prof Zhiguo Yuan, University of Qld; Prof Jurg Keller, University of Qld; Prof Rob Melchers, University of Newcastle; Prof Richard Stuetz, University of NSW; Dr Phil Bond, University of Qld; Dr Marjorie Valix, University of Sydney; A/Prof Jeffrey Charrois, Curtin University (for more details see: www.score.org.au).

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Solar-powered portable buildings

Commercial wastediversion solution Slide & Sort is a waste diversion solution which can be integrated into commercial and office buildings.

Featuring divisions made from Australian Standard colours, graphics and fitfor-purpose apertures to optimise recycling while minimising contamination in recycling streams, the product is a result of collaboration between Source Separation Systems’ specialised product designers, waste-management consultants and architects.

The unit can be designed to suit user requirements with a large range of interchangeable lids which slide out easily when required.

Available in two sizes options - two or three 60 L waste streams, the unit can be installed during the construction of office interiors, in areas such a kitchenettes, shared offices, reception areas, staff rooms and can be integrated into cabinetry.

Easy to empty and clean, the unit houses three 60 L MultiSort bases which can also be easily removed.

The base units are compatible with MultiSort trolley units which further improve the convenience of emptying and transportation of the waste to a centralised waste station. Compost-A-Pak liners, which are certified to Australian standards as compostable, may also be used with the green waste stream to ensure organic waste can be conveniently diverted.

Source Separation Systems Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/T264

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Blue Planet Buildings has begun manufacturing and supplying solar-powered portable buildings for mine sites, construction companies and various government authorities. They provide modern comforts to workers, including air conditioning, noise suppression, lighting, security and plug-and-play electrics.

The buildings are designed to have minimal impact on the environment because they emit no carbon pollutants and generate carbon offset credits. Their solar panels generate 1.5 kW/h and can be used on or off the grid, so they can be used in any location.

The buildings are flat packed, making them easy to transport and install. Building them takes less than an hour and can be done by unskilled labourers. They are fully insulated with double-glazed windows, sealed for all weather conditions and able to withstand a Category D cyclone.

Blue Planet Buildings Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/S773

HORIBA U-50 MULTI-PARAMETER WATER QUALITY METERS

pH Oxidation Reduction Potential Dissolved Oxygen Conductivity Salinity Total Dissolved Solids Seawater Specific Gravity Temperature Turbidity Water Depth GPS

AUSTRALIAN SCIENTIFIC Pty Ltd

PO Box 335 Kotara NSW 2289 - Ph 1800 021 083 - Fax 02 4956 2525 sales@austscientific.com.au - www.austscientific.com.au

April/May 2013 - Sustainability Matters 31

n products & services

Wireless network link Electromagnetic flow sensor The Series IEFS Insertion Electromagnetic Flow Sensor, from Dwyer Instruments, comes in brass or stainless steel, allowing it to handle a wide range of pressures and temperatures, as well as a variety of available saddle fittings to fit pipe sizes 3 to 24″.

The IEFS-3X and IEFS-4X have isolation valves which allow hot-tap installation and optional stainless steel construction. Additional options for the flow meter include adapter fittings and a reverse flow output.

The series is suitable for ‘dirty’ water applications or any application where moving parts may be an issue.

Dwyer Instruments (Aust) Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/T252

The NL240 is a wireless networking peripheral that provides Wi-Fi connectivity to Campbell Scientific data loggers and peripheral devices over standard 802.11b/g/n networks. It is a low-power device that offers powerful PakBus networking capabilities but is easy to configure.

The logger can take advantage of the thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots available in cafes, universities, hotels and airports. Wi-Fi also provides encryption to protect traffic and uses a global set of standards so the same device can be used internationally. The industrial device is said to go beyond the typical Wi-Fi serial device server, supporting Wi-Fi communication with an iOS or Android device when used with Campbell Scientific LoggerLink apps.

By providing direct access to all the IP capabilities of the CR800, CR1000 and CR3000 data loggers, the product provides: M2M communication of data and events; PakBus communication over TCP/IP for remote configuration, control and data collection; HTTP and FTP for posting, retrieving and local hosting of data; email client for data and control messaging; Modbus TCP/IP, DNP3 and NTCIP ESS industrial protocol support.

Campbell Scientific Aust Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/S658

Garbage collection apps for iPad and iPhone Wastedge.com has released the iWaste software apps for iPad or iPhone for regular collection drivers and skip operators. The gadgets provide drivers with paperless electronic run sheets and job location maps with real-time job dispatch and driver confirmation updates, linked to a secure hosted web service.

Mobile field staff can tick job checklists, adjust bins or quantity collected, add loose waste services or tipping details, attach job photos, capture on-screen signatures, scan bin serial barcodes or add driver notes with GPS date time stamps. The apps can even email job confirmations to customers before leaving sites.

New drivers can follow saved best-driver routes or get integrated turn-by-turn voice navigation directions to reduce travel time and distance between jobs. The pay-as-you-use solutions are said to save drivers between half an hour to an hour a day while reducing office admin effort substantially.

Wastedge Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/S327

32 Sustainability Matters - April/May 2013

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n products & services

LED downlight range Now available exclusively to Ilum-a-Lite is the Eco White F Series with high transmitting lens and 80째 beam, R Series with dark light reflector and 60째 beam and D Series with faceted reflector and 30째 beam.

The range features state-of-the-art 50 W high-powered COB LEDs with their own original architectural designs. The downlights come complete with rotatable fixing clips adaptable for 1-45 mm ceilings.

The lights are designed to replace CFL and HID light sources. They feature a high CRI of >80 and a large format 205 mm cut out. There are dimmable options of 1-10 V, Dali.

The lights run for 50,000 h and are Australian Standards approved and IPART approved.

Ilum-a-lite Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/S535

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Analyser for pH/total acidity The TitraLab automatic analyser is specifically designed for pH and total acidity in food and beverage applications, making it suitable for routine analysis measurements.

The product delivers fast results due to the optimisation of applications and an embedded preset algorithm. Accuracy is provided with the high-resolution, 40,000-step electronic burette.

The preset display offers the instrument operator comfort and ease of use. The intuitive product interface and ready-to-use, preprogrammed methods minimise training time.

The instrument, electrode and all accessories are included. Simply add chemistries and set-up is complete. Maintenance is easy, with few spare parts needed.

Hach Company Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/S411

April/May 2013 - Sustainability Matters 33

Upping sticks and moving from Belfast, Ireland, to New Zealand is a significant lifestyle change for anyone, but MWH Global water and wastewater engineer Chris Maguire* never thought it would bring him face to face with the challenge of helping to rebuild an earthquake-torn city.

Christchurch City Council requested the new pressure main be constructed from glass reinforced plastic (GRP) as this material had performed well in the earthquakes on other wastewater lines.

Early morning start! The abandoned ductile iron pipelines against the new glass reinforced plastic pipes which are waiting to be lifted into the ground at East Christchurch.

Designing a stronger Christchurch

W

ithin a year of his arrival in New Zealand from Belfast, Chris Maguire had experienced two catastrophic earthquakes. The September 2010 earthquake measured 7.1 on the Richter scale and required the repair of public infrastructure, but the worst was yet to come. A quake of 6.3 magnitude struck 10 km from Christchurch in February 2011, causing 185 deaths and reportedly over NZ$15 billion worth of damage.

Following the initial disaster and emergency response phases, there was a need to look at the long-term recovery of public infrastructure. In July 2011, Maguire was seconded from MWH to join the rebuild with the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT).

SCIRT is an alliance between owner participants Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, Christchurch City Council and New Zealand Transport Agency, and five non-owner participants (Delivery Teams) - City Care, Downer, Fletcher, Fulton Hogan and McConnell Dowell. The alliance was tasked with rebuilding the earthquake-damaged horizontal infrastructure including roads and the water, wastewater and stormwater networks. Rebuilding this infrastructure is likely to cost around NZ$2 billion and will take several years.

Maguire’s initial focus was on the Pressure Main 11 (PM11) project, which was the design of a 3.6 km long, 1.2 m diameter, glass reinforced plastic (GRP) wastewater pressure main through the east of Christchurch, sitting in liquefiable ground. This was needed as the previous pressure mains failed during the earthquake and were damaged beyond repair.

“The opportunity to design one of the largest GRP wastewater pressure mains in the country and the ability to make a real difference, through engineering, fuelled me,” said Maguire.

34 Sustainability Matters - April/May 2013

The original Pressure Main 11 consisted of two 600 mm ductile iron pipes.

These were paired with a concrete pressure main to allow for resilience in operation. With the iron pipes damaged in the earthquakes, it meant there was only one line to carry 30% of Christchurch’s wastewater from Pump Station 11 to the Christchurch Wastewater Treatment Plant. Therefore, there was a need for a quick delivery of the design for the new pressure main. Christchurch City Council requested the new pressure main be constructed from GRP as this material had performed well in the earthquakes on other wastewater lines.

Challenging conditions “We found there were some challenges when designing the new pressure main, especially around the ground conditions.

Although there has been a considerable amount of study of earthquakes and seismic stability of buildings and vertical structures, there were surprisingly few examples in New Zealand of the tested performance of underground pipelines in seismic conditions. Geotechnical investigations undertaken in the area of the proposed pipeline indicated that it was prone to liquefaction. Although a relatively new concept, the black sleech (soft estuarine quasi-thixotropic deposits) in Belfast can be comparable to liquefaction in poor soil strength and instability so the design could be transferable back home in Ireland,” said Maguire. Through extensive testing and using existing borehole logs, Maguire and the team soon built up good information about the existing ground conditions, which enabled them to understand the potential issues around resilience. Conventional design of flexible pipelines considers static ground conditions and soil strength, not liquefaction, where seismic events can mobilise the silts and sands.

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Infrastructure rebuild

“It was eye opening to discover the majority of flexible pipeline codes used around the world are based on an American research paper called ‘Modulus of soil reaction (‘E’) Values for buried flexible pipe’, Howard (1977),” said Maguire. “Also, research which looked at the strength of liquefaction was mainly based on aboveground ‘unconfined’ embankments and dams where the soil had more opportunity to move and relax.

However, we were looking at underground pipelines which were confined, giving a larger factor of safety and greater confidence in the design principles we had established.”

Sharing the knowledge As part of a knowledge-sharing initiative at SCIRT, international experts with experience of seismic effects on public infrastructure were invited to discuss potential solutions. These discussions included representatives from the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP), Kobe City, Kyoto University and the University of Canterbury. “The opportunity to talk about issues around seismic design and resilience with those who have first-hand global experience was invaluable. Open, honest and robust discussion around our design gave me confidence in the methodology and principles we were adhering too. It also opened my eyes to the challenges that had been faced elsewhere; something which would become the new reality of pipeline design in New Zealand.”

Wrapping up the design It was decided that a method of keeping the ovality of the pipeline was required.

This meant using a geogrid and textile wrapping, similar to a gabion basket, that would resist horizontal and vertical deflection in the pipeline when the soil strength was reduced due to liquefaction. “In order to prove that this would work, we undertook a physical test of the methodology,” said Maguire.

Analysis of the testing results showed that the geogrid gabion-type trench resisted changes in ovality and resulted in a reduction of 30 to 40% in vertical deflection when compared to the geotextile and standard trench details.

However, testing also revealed that even after three days of complete loss of side

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support, all three trench constructions showed less deflection than allowable limits. “This gave me great satisfaction that the design we had spent time perfecting would better withstand any future quakes,” said Maguire.

Innovation also extended to the use of geogrid thrust blocks which help to strengthen the trench and minimise differential settlement. Previous concrete thrust blocks had been seen to cause cracking and pipe fracture in other places from settlement.

Christchurch City Council had previously used geogrid reinforced aggregate thrust blocks for GRP pipe outside Pump Station 11 and these had performed well in the quakes.

Using information from these previous thrust blocks and research gained from similar blocks used in Japan, a new design for geogrid reinforced aggregate thrust blocks was developed. This was designed using static analysis and finite element analysis. GRP ribs were also added to the bends to give added cohesion between the trench backfill and the geogrid thrust blocks. This provided extra safety against joint displacement due to thrust.

“Working in SCIRT is like working for the United Nations,” says Maguire.

“Along with all the Kiwis, you have

people from all over the world with years of combined knowledge from different projects, places, experiences and challenges.”

The high-performing team atmosphere created at SCIRT enables open and honest communication that leads to the delivery of projects like the new pressure main, says Maguire. “I have realised that no two people communicate in the same way. To be great engineers we need to engage with all people, in their own way. In order to innovate, we need to break down barriers to communication and challenge the norm.”

MWH Australia Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/T259

*Chris Maguire worked as a 3-Waters Engineer with MWH in the UK before transferring to New Zealand in 2010.

Upon his relocation, he worked as a project manager and water resources engineer in the Waikato, before moving to Christchurch in 2011 to join SCIRT. He is Chairman of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) Canterbury Branch, which serves over 2000 engineers.

April/May 2013 - Sustainability Matters 35

n products & services

Energy-saving fan The Combat Energy Saving Fans are designed to improve heating system efficiency by keeping valuable warm air down at working level and reducing heat losses through the roof structure.

The main benefits of the fans include: providing savings up to 20% of running costs at optimum air change rate; extending life of heating equipment; and gentle and even air distribution due to greater volume of air movement.

The fans are suitable for most commercial and industrial applications and can be equipped with a thermostat or a speed controller, depending on the model.

Hurll Nu-Way Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/S720

Thermal imaging camera The VarioCAMhr from Infratec is a high-resolution camera for high thermal imaging performance. It has a modular device concept which permits the camera equipment to be custom designed according to the user’s needs. Thermographic images are displayed with high quality in an adjustable, high-resolution colour viewfinder which simultaneously provides an overview of the current measuring conditions.

The camera has replaceable, fast rechargeable Li-Ion batteries and low power consumption, which ensures a long working autonomy.

It is offered with various detector formats and temperature measuring ranges, which can be extended. It comes with high-quality infrared lenses, powerful tools of the thermography software suite IRBIS 3 and a wide range of accessories.

Applications include: preventive maintenance on electrical equipment and mechanical components; building thermography; inspection of facilities; inspection of power plants; control cabinet inspection; condition monitoring.

SciTech Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/T132

36 Sustainability Matters - April/May 2013

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Case Study Overset

Resource centre

Legislation, governance, programs and industry links to help guide your sustainability development.

Ozwater ’13

ISO standards tackle energy challenge © iStockphoto.com/Plainview

The Ozwater ’13 international water conference and exhibition organised by the Australian Water Association is being held from 7-9 May 2013 at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. It will be of interest to those working or interested in the water industry, as well as those wishing to build their personal and corporate profile. Attendees will hear from renowned keynote speakers and attendees from Australia and across the globe in a multistreamed program, including platform presentations, interactive workshops and electronic posters. The free trade exhibition will showcase water industry products and services. www.ozwater.org/

ISO solutions for energy efficiency and renewables are the subject of a new brochure - ISO & energy - which provides a concise overview of International Standards available and how they can help. http://www.iso.org/iso/ home/news_index/news_archive/news. htm?refid=Ref1698

Solar 2013 Conference & Exhibition

Solar 2013 Conference & Exhibition 23-24 May 2013 Solar 2013, presented by the Australian Solar Council and international partner AUPVSEE, Melbourne Convention will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 23-24 May 2013. & Exhibition Centre Free to attend, the event has an extensive industry exhibition with over 100 exhibitors www.solarexhibition.com.au and also features three concurrent conference streams: Registration is free of charge, but • Industry and Policy Stream is essential for all delegates and • Solar Installer and Designer Professional Development Training available via the event website.

• Scientific and Research Stream Designed by the Australian Solar Council, the Solar 2013 Conference will provide the latest up-to-date information on the solar, renewable energy and energy-efficiency industries. It will host a continuous stream of presentations from industry experts, covering diverse topics from current policy and market analysis, to financing of industry projects and industry case studies and best practice.

In addition, the conference is working with the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) to deliver a retailer and solar installer/ designer program and forum. This program will focus on technical and specific product issues and is being designed by leading industry experts Brian England, Steve Ingrouille and Kim Atkinson.

The Solar 2013 Exhibition provides the opportunity to network directly with policy makers, industry players, experts and consumers. There will also be a wide range of Australian manufacturers exhibiting and supporting organisations including BOSCH, Clean Energy Regulator, Green Energy Trading, Infinity Solar, IT Power, SEIA, Solar 360, Solar Max, Solar Plus, WINAICO and the Australian Solar Thermal Energy Association. Last year over 1700 delegates attended the event, and this year over 2000 delegates are expected.

Editor Carolyn Jackson email: sm@westwick-farrow.com.au Chief Editor Janette Woodhouse

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April/May 2013 - Sustainability Matters 37

In my opinion

Is north orientation best for me?

T Darrell Wilson is the developer of the Renewable Energy Testing Initiative (RETI). He has been involved in the solar power, engineering and telecommunications industries for over 20 years and is the owner of solar installation and design company Energy Wise Group. He identified that Australasia and the Southern Hemisphere were lacking any real solar power field testing information so he decided to invest in the RETI facility. www.reti.com.au.

Most people, including some design installers, are reluctant to put solar panels on eastor west-facing roofs as they fear that they may be losing too much power production and increasing their return on investment too much.

he Renewable Energy Testing Initiative (RETI), located at Brisbane Technology Park in Queensland, is an independent, real-time, in-field solar testing and monitoring facility. The facility features a large, unshaded testing field in conditions representative of the typical climate experienced in Australian communities. One of the driving forces behind the inception of RETI was to show the general consumer the benefits of installing solar PV onto residential houses and to also better understand how solar panels perform in different scenarios and conditions.

It is for this reason one of the first test parameters set up at the RETI test field was the addition of solar panels installed at different orientations (north, south, east and west) to really understand the performance of solar systems facing different directions.

Most people, including some design installers, are reluctant to put solar panels on east- or west-facing roofs as they fear that they may be losing too much power production and increasing their return on investment too much. However, RETI has produced some surprising results in the difference in performance between different orientated panels.

According to results recorded at the facility on 26 October 2012, the last time Brisbane received a cloudless sky for the entire day, the difference in power production between a north-, east- or west-facing solar system is not as significant as one would first think.

Even south-facing panels produced a surprising amount of power.

The difference in power production between north and east was only 420 Wh (6%), with north producing 7.269 kWh and east producing 6.849 kWh for the day. The next best performer was the west panels producing 6.540 kWh for the day and as expected the southern panels produced the

38 Sustainability Matters - April/May 2013

least amount of power at 6.069 kWh. North-, east- and west-facing panels all surpassed the Clean Energy Council Guidelines of 6.3 kWh based on 4.2 peak sun hours for Brisbane.

It is evident from these figures that based on purely kWh produced, the preferred orientation for installing solar systems is the northern aspect, followed by the east then the west. The increased performance of the eastern solar panels over the western panels can largely be attributed to the cooler conditions received by the eastern panels in the morning, left over from the cool nighttime period. The result of the temperature of the panels can also be seen in the instantaneous peaks of the different orientations. North peaks the highest but is closely followed by the eastern panels then the western panels.

Australia has recently gone through a boom period for rooftop solar in Australia, pushed largely by the generous feed-in tariff established to help kickstart the solar industry. The result of which helped create a huge demand in rooftop solar and it was economically viable to sell as much of the electricity back to the grid.

Now that the feed-in tariffs have been heavily reduced, perhaps it doesn’t make as much economic sense to sell as much electricity back to the grid, but rather use the electricity generated by the solar system to run the most power-intensive appliances in the home.

For most households, the peak energy usage time is usually in the morning.

Therefore, in this scenario, it may make sense to have an eastern-facing system.

With new challenges facing the solar PV industry, we cannot simply face panels north and hope for the best but the focus needs to be put back on the design of the solar system tailored around the lifestyles of the homeowner, along with better education for the consumer regarding their power usage.

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Toshiba Motor efficiency

costs Energy Saving Peak efficiencies provide maximum energy savings for each output Infinite Customisation Flexibility Extensive range of customisation options

Corrosion Resistant Finish Full paint system and colour flexibility Product Reliability Backed by Toshiba’s Reliable People Toshiba’s great product backing and support

Heavy Duty Construction High grade cast iron frame & cast iron/steel fan & covers

Ex n Option Fully certified as Ex n (non-sparking) for hazardous area application

Low Noise Design Low audible noise in operation

High Efficiency Standards Compliant with MEPS 2006 High Efficiency Standards

TOSHIBA INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION PTY LTD NSW Toshiba International Corporation Pty Ltd 2 Morton Street, Parramatta NSW 2150 Tel: (02) 9768 6600 Fax: (02) 9890 7546

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NEWCASTLE Toshiba International Corporation Pty Ltd UNIT 1,18 Kinta Drive, Beresfield NSW 2322 Tel: (02) 4966 8124 Fax: (02) 4966 8147

MACKAY Toshiba International Corporation Pty Ltd 1st Floor 41 Wood Street, Mackay QLD 4740 Tel: (07) 4953 4184 Fax: (07) 4951 4203

WESTERN AUSTRALIA Toshiba International Corporation Pty Ltd 10 Anderson Pl, Perth International Airport WA 6105 Tel: (08) 6272 5600 Fax: (08) 6272 5601