From fresh water to waste water AERZEN supplies oil-free oxygen to Nordland Papier Water is the elixir of life at every paper mill. At UPM Nordland Papier in Dörpen, Lower Saxony, AERZEN Delta Blowers and Delta Hybrids contribute to the economical use and careful treatment of this precious element. View of the water surface of a moving bed reactor basin Two Delta Hybrid machines alternately generate the compressed air for the moving bed reactor. Frank Berlage, sewage plant manager „The packaged units were used for a field test. As they worked to our utmost satisfaction, we purchased them. Thanks to their reliability, the current factory-provided monitoring could be reduced to the usual servicing and main- tenance by the manufacturer. Furthermore, the Delta Hybrids are particularly energy-efficient due to their economical use of electrical energy.“The UPM Nordland Papier fine paper factory in Dörpen is the largest of its kind in Europe, producing up to 1.4 million tons of uncoated and coated paper every year with four machines. The company is part of UPM Paper ENA (Europe and North America), a worldwide leading manufacturer of graphic papers, with its head office in Germany and production facilities in Finland, the UK, France, Austria and the U.S.A.Accumulating waste water is treated in a sewage plant, which first works mechanically and then biologically with a maximum capacity of 650 m3/h and it is then fed into the River Ems as“fully purified water”. Double-stage biological waste water treatment Since 1968, packaged units made by AERZEN have been in operation here. At that time, the first positive displacement blowers were installed in the fresh water sector. In 2009, two further Delta Blower packaged units were supplied for waste water treatment in the sector of the aeration basins. Since 2012, two rotary lobe compressors of the new Delta Hybrid series have been supplying oxygen for the new moving bed reactor. The “moving bed” comprises plastic bodies with a size of about five centimetres, floating freely in the waste water and offering an ideal growth surface to micro- organisms, which prefer packed beds. To encourage the multiplication of these bacteria, oxygen, which is generated by the two Delta Hybrid machines, each with a drive capacity of 250 kW, is fed into the reservoir via vents. The two units, one of which covers the operational requirements, and the other kept as redundancy, have been designed for a maximum pressure of 1,500 mbar. They are run depending on demand via the integrated AERZEN AERtronic control system and frequency converter, and supply the reactor basins, which have a height of 12 metres, with a constant maximum pressure of 1,400 mbar. In the subsequent second treatment stage, the activated sludge stage, the waste water first of all passes through a circular above- ground aeration basin, which is supplied with oxygen by two speed-controlled AERZEN Delta Blowers operated in parallel. In the following three aeration basins, surface aerators are used at the water surface. Afterwards, the waste water passes through a degassing basin and four secondary settling tanks working in parallel. Prior to being fed into the River Ems, an additional clear water filter retains the finest residual contaminants. Due to the multistage treatment of the purified waste water a BOD decomposition of 98 per cent is achieved. Worldwide novelty The new Delta Hybrid packages have been designed for all application cases where air and neutral gases are conveyed up to 1.5 bar. Initially, the series only comprised packaged units in the performance range from 600 to 5,900 m3/h. With further development work, AERZEN has increased the performance range to a maximum 9,000 m3/h. These new machines are not only easy to use and to maintain, are robust and have a long service life, but they also reduce energy consumption by 15 per cent compared with conventional compressors. “So it is not surprising that in spite of nationwide requests for quotations for new investments in the field of compressed air generation in our sewage plant, we have again and again decided on the packaged units made by AERZEN”, says Dipl.-Ing. Hartmut Wagener, operating engineer in the field of public utility.
Intelligent G5 logistics in South Africa Airgas Compressors, AERZEN’s South African subsidiary, has taken over the logistics for the import of Generation 5 on the African continent and developed an efficient concept for this:unlike the previous model that had been manufactured and assembled at site except for the stage, now, the G5 packaged units are imported as complete machines and are only partly assembled in South Africa. Thanks to this well thought- out transport and assembly concept, Airgas Compressors is able to serve its customers quickly and efficiently across Africa.
Replacement after 30 years In 1984, AERZEN supplied an oil-free screw com- pressor, type VRo 936L, to the Italian chemical company Versalis. This machine had been used in a process for the manufacture of polystyrene foam. Apart from periods when it was undergoing regular servicing, the compressor had been in continuous operation for 30 years!More than a quarter of a million operating hours had been reason enough for the customer to replace the machine with a new compressor stage from AERZEN. As a result, the course has been set for the future, in order to keep the work at this production plant running without any problems. The key challenge in the production of this compressor stage VR, which was delivered in January, was its tremendous weight: almost 34 tons!
The service fleet has a new look Our new brand positioning AERZEN also includes the service vehicles: the cars have so far been branded with the new logo and given a special white varnish paint treatment. For the transport of spare parts and tools for assembly work, the car boots have all been equipped with special vehicle floor-plates. With a view to the well-being of the service technicians who have to drive many thousands of kilometres every year, the service cars have been equipped with special health seats.
A helping hand is natural One of the most devastating fires in the history of Chile raged on 12th April in the mountains around Valparaiso and destroyed at least 2,500 houses. Also a colleague of Aerzen Chile was directly affected and lost his house in the disaster. “Team spirit and social commitment are among the basic values of AERZEN, therefore, for us as a team, we took it for granted that we must help our colleague”, Octavio Alarcón V., managing director Aerzen Chile, comments.The employees collected donations in kind, organised a new accommodation and helped with the cleaning up.A total of 11,000 people were made homeless as a result of the fire, another 6,000 had to be evacuated. 15 people died in the fire and 10 more were seriously injured.
Delta Blower in new E-Design Energy efficiency is a key issue today, especially in compressor technology, where energy costs amount to more than 90 percent of product life cycle costs (considered over a period of ten years). Now AERZEN has complemented its blower series Delta Blower Generation 5 with new design, characterised by top marks in terms of energy saving. The new E-Design uses up to four percent less energy, depending on volume flow and differential pressure. This improved energy efficiency is the result of numerous enhancements, such as a flow-optimised guide for the intake air in the acoustic hood and in the filter silencer. The patented intake cone minimises both pressure losses and sound input. Furthermore, the cooling system design has been revised. Instead of a mechanically driven acoustic hood fan, an electrical fan is now used, which ensures perfect ventilation at lowest power consumption. As with all AERZEN series, the E-Blower is also characterized by absolute reliability and longevity. It is a robust endurance runner in innumerable compression processes where air and neutral gases have to be conveyed oilfree. It is available in six sizes for intake volume flows from approximately 30 m3/h up to 1.000 m3/h and overpressures up to 1000 mbar resp. negative pressures up to 500 mbar.
Certifications for Emmerthal Emmerthaler Apparatebau, a subsidiary of AERZEN, is pleased about receiving three new certifications: the first of these came when, TÜV Nord granted certification for the integration of the working and health protection management system BS OHSAS 18001 into the existing quality management system DIN EN ISO 9001:2008 in October.Then, at the beginning of December, Emmerthaler Apparatebau received its China- Manufacturer-License for a further four years, with no deviations found during the audit. In January 2014, the Joint-Review and the extension to the U2-stamp followed, necessary for ASME- U-stamp for pressure vessels in higher pressure stages (>200 bar). Emmerthaler Apparatebau was also duly certified in this case.
New logistics concept The new AERZEN logistics centre is nearing completion. With the opening of the logistics centre, the trucks will follow a new route on the premises. The position of the entrance for trucks which deliver goods will be relocated from the entrance at the federal highway B1 to a new entrance at the street called Wiesenweg, including a new gatehouse.The planning for a high-performance high-bay storage facility, with a picking zone in front, to be situated next to the logistics centre, has started in parallel with the final building measures.With the new logistics concept AERZEN takes into account the permanent, worldwide growth of the company.
