Wastewater industry is an energy-intensive industry. Statistically, every year, wasterwater treatment facilities in the US take up $3 billion in energy costs. 70% of the energy usage could be attributed to the aeration blower system alone.
Thus, energy cost and efficiency management is highly important for the wastewater facility manager. Lower energy consumption also leads to the reduction of environmental impact, an equally important criterion. As the scale is so large, a simple cut of 1% – 2% is huge progress with tremendous savings. With that said, how about 30% – that is a dream of any facility manager!
In this post, I would introduce the advancement in compressor blowers that helps trim away 30% of energy cost.
Rotary Screw Blower
ZS screw blower from Atlast Copco utilizes the new technolgy that reduce the energy consumption by 30%. This innovative method had been rigorously tested and proven by third-party institutions, including the Technische Überwachungs-Verein (TÜV – German Technical Monitoring Association). The TÜV has a stellar reputation – Its certification is comparable to the ISO standards. Automobiles manufacturer in Germany also needs to achieve the TUV certification to operate in the country.
To briefly touch on how the new technology works, it resembles closely one principle, on which the air compressor works. It groups male and female trap and squeezes air between them, so that the air is continuously in every rotation. Take a look at the below graph for easy reference on how it works.
How Rotary Screw Blower works
Third-Party Test – the TÜV
As mentioned above, this technology had been proven in the lab test, conducted by the TÜV. They set up 2 environments with the same operating conditions, in which the energy consumed was independently measured.
The identical conditions is set at 2000 CFM, 8760 hours (roughly one year). The results was amazing. The screw blower won by a landslide, boasting the savings of $15,000 a year, compared to the conventional method.
There are additional tests, in which the screw blower demonstrates tremendous advancements from its predecessor. To be specific, on average, the screw blower was 23.8% better in energy efficiency than a tri-lobe blower at 0.5 bar/7psig. It shines even more at 0.9 bar / 13psig, scoring 39.7% improvement.
Lower Sound and Lower Temperature
Not only energy efficient, the screw blower technology also emits a much lower sound level, at only 75 dBa in operation, compared to 85 – 90 dBa of the original method. Even better, the heat discharge from this screw blower is 40 Fahrenheit lesser than the lobe blower. That is a tremendous improvement and opens up many other opportunities to cut costs, as now the wastewater treatment plants could have more choices when it comes to the piping system used.
READ: 5 Interesting Uses for an Air Compressor
Conclusion
Water filter treatment is indispensable in every city, for its critical function to produce clean water that both the manufacturer and the city residents depend on. Thus, new technology should be embraced with open mind, and be proved with rigorous testing to ensure the improvement compare to the conventional method. In addition, take a close look on the side effect, if any, before change implementation is granted.