Wastewater aeration is an important part of wastewater treatment. Every factory requires wastewater treatment. A wastewater treatment plant cleans the wastewater of a factory which is also known as industrial effluents. After the water has been cleaned, it can be reused for other purposes. The effluent treatment plants are common in pharmaceuticals, food, tanneries, textiles and chemical industries due to the nature of applications and processes.
Effluent treatment is very important as per an environmental point of view and government regulations. They reduce water pollution as well as conservation of water. A lot of municipal corporations focusing on setting up wastewater treatment plants should know how to choose the right equipment for the task.
One of the most important pieces of equipment in a wastewater treatment plant is the pressure air blower that is oil-free and low pressure. This type of pressure blower is used for a lot of processes and applications such as filter backwashing and diffused aeration.
While the cost of low-pressure blowers can be as low as five percent of the total wastewater treatment plant’s investment cost, it is the running cost of these blowers that can cost up to 60% of the total cost of the entire treatment plant. This is because the blowers have to run continuously to support biological wastewater treatment. It is therefore recommended to choose the right wastewater aeration equipment to ensure your treatment plant is energy efficient.
Choosing the right technology
Aeration tanks with a water column that ranges from five meters to six meters are very common in wastewater treatment which provides a back pressure of between 0.5 bar (g) and 0.6 bar(g) on the blowers. Also, the OTE (oxygen transfer efficiency in the aeration tank of the wastewater increases with an increase in the water column level.
The tri-lobe blowers are efficient in the aeration process until when the water level in the aeration tank is below 4m. This provides a back pressure-resistant of 0.4 bar (g) or below. However, once the pressure is past the 0.5 bar (g) the tri-lobe and twin lobe blowers start using a lot of energy and contribute to high costs of energy for the aeration process.
It is therefore recommended to use the rotary screw blower technology for pressures more than 0.5 bar (g). Screw blowers are better in energy efficiency compared to the traditional lobe technology which is known as roots blowers. The screw blowers are developed as per the latest technologies which help you to save a lot of money by energy savings and reduce negative environmental impact. Screw blowers are more efficient than belt-driven blowers because screwdrivers are gear-driven machines. The efficiency comes from the fact that on average machines that are belt driven have around 5% to7% more transmission losses as compared to machines that are gear driven.
It is highly recommended to use the DO (dissolved oxygen) meter feedback-based blower control. This control supports the effective biological process in wastewater aeration and also saves energy costs.
