Blower Controls

Advanced Aeration Control for Blowers

By Tom Jenkins, President, JenTech Inc.

The ideal blower control matches the blower airflow to the process demand. The process demand, in turn, must be established by the aeration control system. This control strategy has become standard practice in most treatment facilities because of its proven effectiveness in reducing energy consumption and improving process stability.

Read Full Story

Dual Point Aeration Blower Control

By Tom Jenkins, President, JenTech Inc.; Jun Inai, Senior Design and Project Engineer, and Hayato Sakamoto, Principal Project Leader, Kawasaki Heavy Industries

Historically, the most common dual point control has been combining inlet guide vanes and variable discharge diffuser vanes. These are both mechanical systems and predate the availability of economical variable speed control. Recent advances in power electronics technology and improved VFD economics have led to implementing other combinations for dual point control. These include combining VFD control with either VDVs or IGVs.
[ Read Full Story ]

Measuring Blower Airflow in the Field

By Tom Jenkins, JenTech Inc., and John Conover, Air Clean USA

Most electric utilities offer customer incentives for implementing energy conservation measures (ECMs) Incentive programs pay customers to use less energy. In some cases they are mandated by legislation and in others the incentives are driven by the utility’s desire to avoid building new generating capacity. Some incentives are based on reduced energy use (kWh) and some are based on lower peak demand (kW).
[ Read Full Story ]

The Basics of Aeration Control Valves - Part 1

By Tom Jenkins, JenTech, Inc.

Sizing, selection, and adjusting control valves often causes confusion for process and control system designers. Improper valve application can cause operating problems for plant staff and waste blower power. Basing the airflow control system design on fundamental principles will improve valve and control system performance.
[ Read Full Story ]

Blower Requirements with DO Control

By Tom Jenkins, JenTech Inc.

The capacity and pressure requirements of blowers in a Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) are determined by the aeration system. When systems are manually controlled blowers often operate at constant flow and pressure day in, day out. When the aeration system is automatically controlled to maintain a set dissolved oxygen (DO), however, the blower’s flow and system pressure vary constantly. Understanding these variations will help designers and suppliers optimize blower performance.
[ Read Full Story ]

PTFE Membrane Bubble Diffusers Reduce Demand on Aeration Blowers

By Doreen Tresca, Stamford Scientific International, Inc.

Aeration tanks use bubble diffusers to distribute oxygen within the wastewater. Fine bubble diffusers, or those that produce a large amount of very small air bubbles, first began to become popular in the 1980s, as they had a much higher efficiency than coarse bubble diffusers. Fine bubble diffusers generally feature a membrane that allows airflow to pass from the piping system on the floor of the tank through the body of the diffuser and the membrane, providing oxygen into the wastewater for treatment.
[ Read Full Story ]

Pneumatic Control in Modular Wastewater Treatment Plants

By Blower & Vacuum Best Practices Magazine

The design of wastewater treatment plants is changing, and it has something to do with LEGO® bricks. More specifically, it has to do with how large and complex LEGO structures are built. If you follow the instructions carefully, you build module after module, eventually piecing them together to create a fully functional and cohesive unit.
[ Read Full Story ]

Turbo Blowers Generate Significant Energy Savings at Victor Valley Wastewater

By Robert Lung for the U.S. Department of Energy Better Plants Program

A replacement strategy for air compressors and blowers integrated into a system-level approach towards energy efficiency can deliver significant energy savings and optimize equipment performance. At the Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority, a blower replacement project yielded annual energy savings of more than 928,000 kWh and $98,000 in energy costs, while improving the reliability of its secondary treatment process. In addition, the agency qualified for important incentives from its electric utility — significantly improving the project economics and resulting in a 2.94-year payback.
[ Read Full Story ]

Blower System Integration for Wastewater Aeration Applications

By Stephen Horne, Blower Product Manager, Kaeser USA and Marcus Jungkunst, Blower Product Support, Kaeser Germany

The overall wastewater treatment process is complex, and each step is integral to ensuring water is properly purified. Effluent ends up in the plants, containing substances that must be removed before the water can be properly cleaned and returned for use. The range of potential contaminants is almost endless and can include food, pulp, waste, or other substances. Afterwards, the water requires further scrubbing, with the aid of bacteria. It is in this part of the process that compressed air (ideally provided by energy-efficient rotary lobe blowers) plays a vital role.
[ Read Full Story ]

APG-Neuros Retrofits San Bruno Aeration System with New Turbo Blowers

By APG-Neuros

A facility audit examined the plant electrical energy consumption to find ideas to reduce plant energy use while meeting the process demand. Based on discussions with plant staff and a brief review of the process, it was decided to focus the effort on reducing the electrical energy required to provide aeration air to the secondary activated sludge process. The aeration air blowers were the largest consumers of electrical power in the plant and significantly less efficient than the newer blowers that have been introduced to the market place in the recent years.
[ Read Full Story ]

How To Select The Most Effective Blower Technology for Wastewater Applications

By Tom McCurdy, Aerzen USA

This guide explains three blower technologies and,using examples from actual wastewater plants, describes the most effective technology for particular applications and why. Of course there is no substitute for a consultation specific to your application; however, the guide can help raise the right questions and ensure a productive vendor and technology evaluation process.
[ Read Full Story ]

DO Control System and Turbo Blowers Optimize Energy Use at a WWTF

By Jack Troidl, P.E., Woodard & Curran

Every municipality and utility is facing the reality of rising energy costs. In 2010, the Town of Billerica, MA, which is located 22 miles northwest of Boston with a population of just under 40,000 residents, engaged Process Energy Services and Woodard & Curran to conduct an energy evaluation of the Town’s Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) and pump station systems sponsored by National Grid. The objective of the evaluation was to provide an overview of each facility system to determine how electrical energy and natural gas were being used at the facility and to identify and develop potential costsaving projects.
[ Read Full Story ]

Improved Aeration Efficiency through Design and Control

By Steve Kestel, Product and Project Manager, BioChem Technology, Inc.

With the recent and future increases of the cost of energy, operating a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) as efficiently as possible has become one of the most important factors that operators and managers are facing today. The implementation of a properly designed aeration control system has been reported by the United Sates Environmental Protection Agency to reduce aeration energy by 25 to 40 percent.
[ Read Full Story ]

O₂ Automation: The Future of Bubble Mixing?

Blower & Vacuum Best Practices® Magazine interviewed Kris Drewry from O₂ Automation and Pulsed Hydraulics Inc.

We have industrial accounts where we mix chemicals and acids. Our favorite is blending wine and spirits using compressed nitrogen. The old way to blend was to use “air rousing.” This was done by installing rows of perforated pipes in the bottom of the tank and attaching an air pipe to this grid. Since the typical mixing cycle was 45 minutes, copious amounts of air and energy were used.
[ Read Full Story ]

Adaptive Control for Low Pressure Wastewater Treatment Air Systems

By Roy Stuhlman, Kaeser Compressors, Consultant and an instructor for the Compressed Air Challenge® and Stephen Horne, Kaeser Compressors for the Compressed Air Challenge®

In recent years, there have been many changes in wastewater treatment. Most modern processes control three cycles: DO, NH4, and NO3, and all of the processes require high volumes of air. Undeniably, the low pressure air system uses more electrical power than the rest of the wastewater treatment plant combined. The blower packages in these systems can be equipped with low noise enclosures, fixed speed or variable speed drives, and can include all the instrumentation needed for self-protection.
[ Read Full Story ]

The Focus on Energy Water and Wastewater Program

The Focus on Energy Water and Wastewater Program was developed to support the industry because of the enormous potential to reduce energy use without compromising water quality standards. Through the program, numerous water and wastewater personnel have learned that energy use can be managed, with no adverse effects on water quality. Most locations that have saved energy have found improved control and treatment.
[ Read Full Story ]

Water Treatment Plant Receives $1.7 million Energy Grant

By Blower & Vacuum Best Practices Magazine

A new cogeneration system installed at the Budd Inlet Treatment Plant by the LOTT (Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, and Thurston County) Clean Water Alliance late last year uses treatment by-products as fuel to generate electricity and heat energy. This renewable energy system, combined with an aeration blower retrofit currently underway at the Budd Inlet Treatment Plant, is expected to save LOTT more than $228,000 per year in utility costs.
[ Read Full Story ]