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VLT Dri ves i n Wastewater Treatment Pl ant Appl i cati ons (on photo: Vi ennas Mai n Sewage Treatment Pl ant, Austri a)
MarkoCvrkota
Treatment steps
The
most
common use of frequency converters is to drive sludge pumps, elevators, conveyers, aeration, chemical
dosing, clarif iers, digesters, presses and centrif ugal dewatering.
Preliminary t reat ment
In the beginning water is being pumped into the plant f rom the collection basin.
The f requency converter is using water level as
Fi gure 1 - Wastewater Suppl y
Fi gure 2 - Bar screen
Fi gure 3 - Fi ne Si eves
The f requency converter is using water level as
input to control the speed (flow) of the pump.
Removal of bigger solid particles out of
wastewater is usually the f irst basic process in
wastewater treatment, and we use it to prevent
f requent f looding and overf lows and jamming of
cleaning device, to protect valves, pumps and
pipes and to keep the rest of the process going
normally.
Bigger pieces of wood, plastic, metal, rubber,
textile and other waste materials out of
wastewater is being removed by using bar
screens.
We can usually find two types of bar screens:
1. Coarse sieve (rake) and
2. Fine sieve.
Coarse sieves have openings equal to or greater than 6 mm
and generally protective role, while using a fine sieve, with
openings smaller than 6 mm, and can achieve signif icant
removal of suspended solids f rom the wastewater.
The grid is usually made up of parallel rods, while the f ine
screen usually used wire cloth or perf orated metal plate.
Wast ewat er t reat ment
In the f urther process of wastewater treatment applications
are similar installations f or the treatment of drinking water.
First the f loating organic and inorganic impurities are removed.
We use drives in clarif iers with scrapers, chemical dosing in
the process of coagulation and f locculation and the sludge
removal pumps and various pumps to transf er treated water
f rom one part of the plant to another.
Deposition belongs to the sedimentation process group
the process of separating the solid and liquid phases under
the inf luence of gravity. Deposition takes place in clarif iers.
Colloids are very stable suspension of f ine particles in water,
and their size in range of 0,1 0,001 m. Because such a
small size of individual particles, colloidal suspensions are
practically stable and appear as a cloud in the water.
Colloidal suspended material cannot be removed using only
Fi gure 4 - Pri mary treatment cl ari fi er
Colloidal suspended material cannot be removed using only
f iltration
techniques.
The
separation
is based on
the
processes
of
coagulation and flocculation (clarification).
Mixer motors in process of coagulation and f locculation are driven with f requency converters, where the mixer
speed in process of coagulation is determined by the amount of chemicals that is added in coagulation
process. In f locculation process mixer speed is determined by the amount of incoming wastewater (flow)
because if the mixing speed is to low f locculation will not be possible, however if the mixing speed is too f ast,
f loccules that are already created will dissolve.
Outgoing sludge pump is controlled by f requency converter that has clarif ier water level as input. The
advantage of using f requency converters is in reducing the sludge level, preventing Rathole ef f ect in sludge
pump, and preventing overload and underload of the pump.
Fi gure 5 - Aerator and cl ari fi er i n secondary treatment
Underwater blower aeration is one of the most ef f icient ways to get proper aeration according water
characteristics. Blower speed is being controlled by f requency converter. The input signal are f low (or
pressure), the amount of oxygen and PH value of the water.
Blower speed reduction leads to signif icant energy savings since it has variable torque, and it is one of the
biggest energy consumers in wastewater plant.
Filtration can be perf ormed in open or closed, quick or gravity sand f ilters.
Beside
Fi gure 6 - Fi l ter pl ant
Beside
standard supply water applications and chemical dosing, very important application is filter backwash pump.
When the backwash cycle is initiated, the f eed pump receives a 4-20 mA signal f rom dif f erential level
transmitters monitoring the inf luent and ef f luent sides, and determines the amount of backwash water required
f or cleaning. This way we minimize filter media loss by controlling the discharge velocities of the pump.
The backwash water f rom the collection sump is transf erred back to the head of the plant. Drives on the
transf er pump enable ef f icient transf erring of the backwash water by operating at variable speeds to keep low
water levels.
Sludge t reat ment
Digester is the most important part of sludge treatment.
Fi gure 7 - Mi xi ng pump at anaerobi c di gester
Fi gure 8 - Aerobi c di gester
Fi gure 9 - Centri fugal sl udge
dewateri ng
Digester is the most important part of sludge treatment.
There are two types of digesters: anaerobic and aerobic
digester.
Anaerobic digester is closed concrete chamber, where
condition is controlled, without air, organic material is
processed into methane and carbon dioxide using
intermittent gas mixing system. As a result you can get
natural f ertilizer and biogas as f uel. The most common use
of f requency converters to control the pressure of supply
sludge pumps, control of circulation pumps that provide
proper positioning of hot water, which is part of the
technological process.
In aerobic digester sludge shall be air supplied until it comes
to the decomposition.
Frequency converters control aeration
blowers, oxigene sensors give them
input signal so the air supply is
regulated.
Centrifugal dewatering motors are
also controlled by f requency
converters.
In this case we have 2-3 preset speed
so the centrif uge is optimized due to
sludge supply.
Centrif ugal dewatering motors can go
up to 400kW and all posible speed
ajustments can lead to signif icant
energy savings.
Dewatering can be done by the press,
which consists of two elastic straps
that are placed parallel to each other, between them there is sludge
drying by pressure and shear f orce.
Frequency converters control the press motors according to the
ammount of the sludge and its density. This way we can optimize
dewatering process by speed ajustments.
Follow the link f or more
details: http://www.danf oss.com/Solutions/World+of +Water/
Fi gure 10 - Sl udge dewateri ng press