AERZEN Performance³

Exact load cycle management. New levels of efficiency for aeration tanks

01/05/2016

Various wastewater technologies are used to find the right solution for every application. The main ones are turbo blowers, rotary piston blowers and rotary lobe compressors. For maximum energy efficiency, it is ideal to combine these high performance technologies. Of course, they have to be perfectly harmonised with one another – Performance³.

In biologically working municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants the production of oilfree process air requires a considerable amount of electrical energy. However, an optimal solution with highest possible energy efficiency can only be achieved when the compressor performances can be adjusted continuously to the alternating consumption due to unsteady waste water quantities and degrees of pollution. As the consumption not only varies due to the highly fluctuating load in the morning or late at night, but also by additional waste water from industrial plants working during the week and by alternating amount of precipitation.

Often seasonal situations need to be considered, e.g. as for holiday areas. Another important influencing factor are high temperature differences e.g. by summer- and winter operation or in regions that are known for extreme amplitudes such as Canada, Russia or others. Only when all criteria are considered for the conception of the process air production, the optimum compressor system will be chosen in the correct configuration. However, the required process air can only be produced with highest-possible energy efficiency when the selected concept has a sufficiently variable performance spectrum and when an optimal selection of basic- and peak load systems will be fully automatically activated demand-related.

Compound design concepts for highest possible energy-efficiency

Thanks to many years of experience the process air demand of a wastewater treatment plant can be produced with highest possible energy efficiency when it is implemented by various machine types with different ratings, that can be defined as ideal base-/ and peak load units depending on their constructive features and performance ranges. The physical advantages of a continuous-flow ma-chine - the high efficiency of the design point - with the ad-vantages of rotary piston machines - can be perfectly combined with the high controllability and the good efficiency, also in part-load operation. With the three series, turbo blower Aerzen Turbo, positive displacement blower Delta Blower and rotary lobe compressor Delta Hybrid AERZEN now provides the optimal preconditions. The program includes the following for the customized process air generation.

For generation of the base load requirement:

Adjustable AERZEN turbo blowers of series AT Turbo Generation 5 (available volume flows from 300 to 16.200 m³/h, pressure range from 400 to 1000 mbar, middle control range: 40 to 100%).

For generation of peak- or light load requirements:

Adjustable AERZEN positive displacement blower series Delta Blower (available volume flows: 30 to 15.000 m³/h, pressure range from -500 mbar negative pressure to 1000 mbar positive pressure, control range 25 to 100%).
Adjustable AERZEN rotary lobe compressor series Delta Hybrid (available volume flows: 110 to 9000 m³/h, pressure range -900 negative pressure to 1500 mbar positive pressure, control range: 25 to 100%).

By means of this three-point-program, AERZEN offers the ideal preconditions for implementation of a very energy-efficient process air station and a solution ‘from one source’. And the specialists from AERZEN guarantee an optimally adapted overall concept, for highest operation safety, reliability and efficiency.

Company

Worldwide industrial plants are being provided with gaseous media by the use of AERZEN blowers and compressors. The innovative AERZEN machine technology benefits from experiences of 150 years company history. The entire product range comprising rotary lobe blowers, positive displacement blowers, screw compressors, turbo blowers and gas meters. AERZEN blowers, compressors and gas meters are being quality-approved and certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001. The quotation is flexible and also offers special solutions as per customers' requirements in addition to standard products.

Furthermore, AERZEN After Sales Service offers the entire scope of services - including maintenance contract, repairs and modernization of existing units.

PERFORMANCE³ and AERsmart - for sustainable wastewater management

The mechanical engineering company AERZEN is a renowned manufacturer of positive displacement blowers, screw compressors, and rotary lobe compressors; as well as market leader in various areas of sewage treatment technology. With special offers in the area of smart energy saving, automated solutions, and innovative product developments, AERZEN sets new standards in waste water technology.

Main branch: wastewater industry

AERZEN Blowers and Compressors are mainly used in the sewage industry. They provide the ventilation of the aeration tanks of a sewage treatment facility and are an important engine for the biological purification process. The blowers and compressors pump compressed air into the activated sludge tank to enrich the effluent water with oxygen. This creates aerobic conditions in the aeration tank. Oxygen dissolves into the sewage, and contaminants and waste particles are finely dispersed. The adhesion of the oxygen bubbles to the solids present in the sewage causes the pollutants to rise to the surface of the basin. The resulting activated sludge can easily be skimmed off and disposed of. This first step of sewage recycling is referred to as biological wastewater purification.

High Energy Requirement in the Field of Biological Purification

The yield of the air essential for this process consumes 60% to 80% of the total energy costs of sewage treatment. Therefore, it is crucial for sewage treatment plant operators to find energy-efficient, intelligent, and maintainable solutions for this task in the treatment process. An efficient solution is to design the supply of compressed air for each load by customising blowers and compressors to suit any needs.

Here, AERZEN not only scores highly with customised offers and energy-efficient solutions, but also with product diversity that is unique in the market. With its innovative machine configuration, PERFORMANCE3, AERZEN meets the changing air processing requirements in sewage treatment plants. The concept is based on the highly variable machine portfolio of positive displacement blowers, rotary lobe compressors, and turbo compressors (AERZEN Turbo), which are connected to each other by a central control and can be switched; depending on the capacity usage of the system. In this way, AERZEN achieves energy savings of up to 30% in the area of biological sewage treatment. Thanks to the cross-linked control of the various blower types, anything from basic loads to peak loads can be handled consistently.

PERFORMANCE3 - Managing Load Changes with Ease

AERZEN has long been striving for ways to saving energy, with many years of experience working with sewage plants. The new AERZEN concept PERFORMANCE3 is based on the fact that a sewage facility is not always equally utilised, but underlies the daily and seasonal fluctuations. For example, there are more frequent sewage flows during the summer than in winter; during the daytime, water consumption is higher than at night; etc.

By using different technologies that can be adaptively switched off or on, only the amount of energy that is really needed to process their tasks is consumed. The system always works closely to the actual air conditions. The individual components of the PERFORMANCE3 solution are each optimised for different volumetric flow ranges, and can be used or activated flexibly, individually, or in combination, depending on the oxygen conditions in the ventilation tank. The configuration options as greatly vary as systems differ from one another.

The positive displacement blower Delta Blower is suitable for covering the basic load of a system and is extremely efficient, especially in the lower pressure range. The Delta Blower is a robust workhorse and ideal for use in the small and medium volume flow ranges.

The rotary lobe compressor Delta Hybrid shows the most efficient consumption at medium volume flow ranges, and can also withstand higher pressures and water columns up to 15 meters in height. This can save up to 15% in energy costs.

The AERZEN Turbo Compressor offers optimal energy efficiency at high flow rates. It holds an air storage - a principle originally developed by NASA - and is therefore absolutely oil-free. The absence of oil is ideal for the life cycle costs due to reduced maintenance costs.

Based on the needed process air pressure in the respective application, Blowers, Hybrids and Turbos can be used individually and flexibly, as a dual or a threefold combination.
The flexible use of all three units in the compound ensures maximum energy efficiency for each individual task, thanks to consistent energy optimisation and consumption, and covering every desired control range.

AERsmart - a New Level of Control Technology

The smart control of these three components is provided by the AERsmart Compound Control System. It distributes the aeration tasks to the individual units in such a way that light, medium and heavy loads can be processed with optimum machine performance and assembly. This way, the AERsmart controller sets the most efficient energy utilisation of the system in each phase of the ventilation.

AERsmart can do even more: energy consumption, volume flow, pressure, temperatures, and other machine data are recorded and can be communicated to a control centre and reused. This information forms the basis for analyses of trends and annual value comparisons, all directly charted out with AERsmart. Intervals of services can also be tracked. Thus fluctuations and changing demands can be made transparent and comprehensible. This not only allows a clearer outlook on future demands, but also creates more transparency about possible aging effects and machine life cycles.

An Important Step on the Way to Water 4.0

With PERFORMANCE3 model, AERsmart intelligence control, and other innovative concepts in the field of individual machine components digital communication, the company is taking a major step towards Water 4.0: setting new standards in the field of automation, sustainability, and the future viability of the sewage industry.