Following a profitable two-year trial of interval timers on packaged wastewater remedy plant blowers has resulted in a mean 50% vitality discount at a website in Cornwall.
The partnership between WCS Environmental Engineering (WCSEE) and Juliots Properly Lodge Retreat has set a precedent for ongoing design and energy-saving requirements on the wastewater remedy specialist’s HiPAF – high-performance aeration filter – system.
Power prices
The HiPAF packaged wastewater remedy system was put in at Juliots Properly Lodge Retreat in Camelford, North Cornwall, in 2019 to customized design specs and environmental consents. This included a stringent Atmosphere Company effluent discharge allow for organic oxygen demand, suspended solids, and ammonia.
The plant is sized for a inhabitants equal of 1,230 and persistently processes hundreds as much as 181m3/day wastewater. Whereas the HiPAF operation was extremely efficient all year long, retreat park managers discovered that rising vitality costs meant payments have been larger than anticipated, particularly through the peak demand intervals of summer time and weekends.
Air blowers are an integral a part of the HiPAF system, offering oxygen to the micro organism through the cardio course of. Nonetheless, with out timers put in, blowers sometimes function 24/7, which might account for greater than 90% of the vitality utilized in a HiPAF.
Whereas vitality effectivity has all the time been a key design focus of the HiPAF system, the engineering crew at WCSEE took the chance to work intently with Juliots Properly to establish methods to additional scale back vitality consumption. This included gathering and analysing information to evaluate how seasonal variability impacts wastewater movement charges into the HiPAF and the way dissolved oxygen (DO) ranges within the cardio digestion tank have an effect on the necessity for blower operation.
Evaluation of the information helped in understanding how cost-effective timers positioned on the blowers may very well be used to cut back vitality consumption and payments.
Trial interval
Over the two-year trial interval, two timers have been retrofitted on the HiPAF at Juliots Properly, one on every blower alternating every week to make sure even put on. It’s doable to begin and cease the blowers as much as ten instances per hour, so the WCSEE crew began with quarter-hour on-off intervals as a baseline.
When the blowers have been off, DO ranges within the cardio digestion tank have been measured to make sure that 5-6mg of DO per litre of effluent have been maintained at least stage, as is required for environment friendly remedy and operation of the HiPAF.
By incrementally tweaking and increasing the timers, it was doable to establish the optimum time interval for the blowers to be off, whereas remaining throughout the DO limits.
By the top of the trial, it was confirmed that Juliots Properly can now safely function the HiPAF blowers at intervals of 10-minutes-on and 20-minutes-off to keep up minimal DO limits. This optimised answer has led to appreciable vitality financial savings whereas absolutely assembly the necessities of the Atmosphere Company discharge consent.
Rick Ackroyd, common supervisor at Juliots Properly Lodge Retreat stated, “With vitality prices rising steeply, we have been on the lookout for methods to cut back our carbon footprint and vitality use throughout the positioning. WCSEE has been a devoted associate in serving to with that purpose.
“We value their patience and determination in helping us find an effective solution, ensuring we have a robust and efficient wastewater treatment system with the lowest possible energy consumption, especially during peak periods.”
Setting a precedent
Excessive vitality costs and internet zero carbon commitments imply energy-efficient wastewater remedy is an growing concern for homeowners and operators of packaged techniques. To fulfill rising expectations, blower timers pre-set to 15-minute intervals are actually fitted to all WCSEE HiPAF wastewater remedy techniques as normal, guaranteeing probably the most cost-effective, energy-efficient system doable, and forming a part of WCSEE’s normal management philosophy.
The corporate’s skilled technicians can work intently with shoppers post-installation to additional improve the HiPAFs performance, with timers already delivering efficiencies on a number of websites.
WCSEE technical director, Andrew Baird, stated, “By working in shut collaboration with Juliots Properly Lodge Retreat, we now have been in a position to ship the very best worth whole-life price for the shopper in addition to bettering the design and operation of the HiPAF wastewater remedy plant.
“Given the rising cost of energy, and governments’ net zero ambitions, we look forward to working with our existing and future clients to rollout this energy-saving enhancement to our highly effective biological treatment technology.”
