EDITOR ’ S CHOICE 175,000 EUR SAVING PER YEAR
SULZER
Sulzer ’ s turbocompressors cut maintenance overheads , energy consumption and noise for Austrian wastewater plant
The new HST compressors will save around EUR 175 ’ 000 per year
Until the middle of last year , aging blowers were a constant headache for the operations team at the Linz-Asten sewage treatment works . The site ’ s integrally geared , single stage centrifugal blowers were temperamental and failure-prone , with absorbing around EUR 40 ’ 000 a year in maintenance costs . The twenty year old blowers were noisy too ; so loud that you could not work in this area without strong hearing protection and it was a very heavy burden for the maintenance staff . Upgrading to Sulzer turbocompressor technology has addressed both issues at a stroke while also helping the plant to reduce its energy costs and carbon footprint .
The largest wastewater treatment facility in Upper Austria , the Linz-Asten sewage treatment works serves a population equivalent of 950 ’ 000 . The 900 square kilometer catchment area contains the regional capital Linz , 39 neighboring municipalities and a number of Austria ’ s major industrial companies . The search for a solution for new compressor had been ongoing for some time , but plans accelerated when the plant ’ s operations teams heard positive reports on the performance of Sulzer ’ s HST™ turbocompressors recently installed 130 km away at Salzburg ’ s main wastewater treatment facility .
The HST technology is designed for exceptionally high reliability in demanding process applications . HST turbocompressors have few moving parts and , thanks to magnetic bearings , are not subject to mechanical wear . That dramatically reduces routine maintenance requirements compared to older compressor technologies .
QUIET , SIMPLE AND EFFICIENT After a competitive tender process , the contract to replace the blowers was awarded to Sulzer . To allow operation of the plant to continue uninterrupted during the upgrade process , the new Sulzer ’ s HST40 compressors were installed in a purposebuilt above-ground , single story compressor house . This approach was made possible by the very low operating noise of the Sulzer compressors , which produce only 70 dB ( A ), compared to the 100 dB ( A ) generated by the old units .
38 PECM Issue 51