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[...]Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands are probably known mainly to nature lovers with a penchant for rather unusual destinations. So it was initially something interesting and different for a change when HUBER received an enquiry in mid-2017 for a faecal sludge treatment plant for predominantly domestic sludge. At least 10,000 t of sludge were to be received annually, screened and then dewatered to ≥ 35 % dry residue (DR). Transport with suction and tanker vehicles What makes this project special is first and foremost the input DR: The sludge is collected island-wide with suction and tanker vehicles of the Simon Moos company. These special vehicles have several tanks and, with the addition of polymer, can thicken the sludge to 9 – 11 % DR, or even more if the sludge is left standing for a longer time. This reduces the unnecessary transport of water over the sometimes long distances on the island. The task Screening of flowable sludge is a standard task for HUBER and has been tried and tested many times, but the pre-thickened material is almost solid and cannot be screened in this condition. However, the challenge was to treat sludge from 2 % to about 11 % DR equally. HUBER Reception Bunker, Wash Drum and Screw Press After considering various options, the first budget offer was for a HUBER Reception Bunker RoSF7 with re-dilution of the sludge as required, followed by a HUBER Wash Drum RoSF9 for sludge screening. Afterwards, the sludge was to be collected in a buffer and from there pumped to the proven HUBER Screw Press Q-PRESS® for dewatering. Samples, analyses, trials As a next step, a sludge sample was analysed in the HUBER laboratory in autumn 2017 and dewatering tests were carried out – with promising results. The interest of the operator IRF in Leirvik was now high and it was only a matter of evaluating the "unknown" with the thickened sludge. During a visit to the Faroe Islands in the summer of 2018, the delivered sludge was inspected, simple tests for re-dilution were carried out and the operator's expectations and requirements were discussed. IRF is the central supplier and disposal contractor for water, wastewater, waste and energy for most of the Faroe Islands. Based on the findings and agreements of the visit, it was now possible to render the offer more precisely in cooperation with a Danish plant constructor and to start with the detailed planning of process engineering and construction. The machines in the order placed with HUBER The order to HUBER was placed in December 2020 and included the following components for delivery in December 2021: 1x HUBER Sludge Reception Bunker RoSF7 with integrated unit for re-dilution 1x HUBER Wash Drum RoSF9 for sludge screening 1x HUBER Wash Press WAP® for dewatering of screenings 3x thin sludge pump for feeding the screw presses 3x flocculant conditioning plant 3x HUBER Screw Press Q-PRESS® Agreed guarantee values achieved After completion of the building and process technology, the wet commissioning was successfully completed in December 2022 against a spectacular natural backdrop. The agreed guarantee values of 35 % DR in the dewatered sludge were achieved and this with minimal polymer use. To sum up: IRF receives future-oriented technology for the treatment of faecal sludge and HUBER adds a reference to its project portfolio in the midst of impressive surroundings.[...]

[...]Šumperk , Czech Republic On Thursday, 12 October, the official inauguration of the sludge treatment plant at the Šumperk WWTP in the Czech Republic took place. With this state-of-the-art sludge treatment solution, the operator of the wastewater treatment plant, Vodohospodářská zařízení Šumperk, a. s. (VHZ) and its subsidiary, Šumperská provozní vodohospodářská společnost, a.s. (SPVS), have realised a milestone project and are prepared for all future environmental legislation and challenges in the field of sewage sludge treatment. Completed in only three months In a record time of only three months, the team of HUBER SE, the Czech subsidiary HUBER CS spol. s r.o. and their local technology partner Kunst spol. s.r.o. completed the installation, drying tests and commissioning of the sludge dewatering system with the HUBER Screw Press Q-PRESS® 440.2 and the sludge drying system with the HUBER Belt Dryer BT 12 FAS. Both machines are highly energy-efficient technologies whose development placed great emphasis on ease of operation. While the screw presses dewater sludge from the local wastewater treatment plant in Šumperk, the sludge drying solution is also designed to treat externally delivered sludge from surrounding wastewater treatment plants. The total capacity of the belt dryer is 8,000 t of dewatered sewage sludge. Advantages in operating costs decisive The advantages in terms of operating costs over an operating period of 10 years were decisive for the successful tender and award to Kunst together with HUBER's sludge treatment concept. Excellent results in dewatering degree and drying performance From the first start-up, all machines worked perfectly and delivered excellent results. The HUBER Screw Press Q-PRESS® was able to achieve up to 28% DR and is currently operating with a stable dewatering degree of approx. 22% DR. The belt dryer was immediately operated at and above its design throughput and a continuous drying performance of >95% DR. Thanks to an excellent team, this project will help to advance sophisticated sludge treatment processes – and it shows that experienced project partners and technology providers are crucial for successful implementation. We are very proud to be part of the project and wish a good hand in the future operation of the plant. The HUBER Belt Dryer BT in the Šumperk project is the first “new” generation thermal dryer supplied by HUBER to Eastern Europe. Thus, it also represents a HUBER milestone project for the entire Eastern European region. The entire handling of the project and all project phases went extremely smoothly and professionally. This enabled us to distinguish ourselves noticeably from market competitors already during project execution. This difference was recognised and repeatedly praised by our partner Kunst as well as by the plant owner VHZ and operator SPVS. Above all, the problem-free commissioning and the quasi-immediate start of the plant to target operation was impressive. For this, we would like to express our gratitude to all departments and employees involved! We are very optimistic that further projects will follow in the Czech Republic despite the current less stringent disposal regulations.[...]

[...]Over the years, the screw presses of the Q-PRESS ® series have become one of the most successful HUBER products. The latest leap in development took place with significantly more wear-resistant and powerful scraper lips and matching, higher-torque gearboxes with reduced electrical energy consumption. Current further development: significantly changed filter geometry The two long-proven sizes 280 and 440.2 will in future be equipped with a significantly increased open filter surface. In order to increase the open filter surface, the first, relatively coarse screen section in the inlet area will be significantly lengthened, and the middle, somewhat finer screen section will in future be equipped with a wider bar spacing. In this way, more than 30% more open filter area can be provided in the throughput-relevant first half of the filter than before. The enlarged open screen area enables a higher sludge throughput or, with unchanged throughput, a reduced screw speed and thus a higher dewatering result. The wear-resistant wedge wire filters, proven over many years, will continue to be used. All new HUBER Screw Press Q-PRESS ® units will be equipped with the new filter geometry. Less operator intervention, better dewatering results A new control mode of the Q-PRESS ® shows that further developments and improved operator benefits at HUBER are not necessarily only achieved with stainless steel: Previously, the filtration pressure in the filter basket was decisive for the automatic adjustment of the screw press shaft speed. If the filtration pressure was too high, the speed was increased to avoid soaking of the press cake and to reduce the filtrate load. If the filtration pressure was too low, the shaft speed was automatically reduced to ensure sufficient filling of the press. This mode of operation was and is the basis for trouble-free, unattended operation. New: extension of the control mode for maximum dewatering performance What is new now is an extension of the proven control mode with the focus on maintaining the maximum degree of dewatering. As a control parameter, the engine torque now also functions as a measure of the dryness of the sludge cake. If the torque or the degree of dewatering is too low, the screw shaft slows down automatically. Because the torque has significantly lower variances than the filtration pressure, which is directly influenced by the floc quality, the press can be operated with significantly lower variances of the shaft speed – ideally even with a largely constant shaft speed. Experience shows that the pressure level in the press then drops, which automatically reduces the shaft speed and the torque or the degree of dewatering subsequently remains stable in the maximum range. Automatic fine adjustment for ideal dewatering result The fine adjustment of the press with the aim of achieving an ideal dewatering result, which previously depended on the time and experience of the operator, is now also carried out automatically and unattended. New control mode can also be retrofitted The control mode extended by the torque can be retrofitted to HUBER Screw Press Q-PRESS ® units and HUBER control systems back to year of manufacture 2018. The significantly smoother press operation with more stable dewatering degrees and less operator intervention is therefore not only reserved for new customers.[...]

[...]North America It's the next chapter in the success story of the HUBER Multi-Rake Bar Screen RakeMax ® , which has been on the market for many years. As the name CenterFlow already suggests, the incoming wastewater is channelled through the open end face into the "interior" of the screen and the U-shaped bar rack installed parallel to the flow direction. The incoming wastewater flow is broken up and flows through the one-dimensional bar rack arranged to the right and left of the end plate at right angles to the inflow direction before the treated wastewater is deflected a second time by 90° back into the original flow direction. The solids are retained inside the screen before the screen bars are cleaned by rotating rakes, identical to the familiar and proven RakeMax ® concept. The screenings are lifted from the difficult-to-access lower channel area to the maintenance- and operator-friendly working level. Here, the screen rake is cleaned by a rotating scraper. The screenings are reliably discharged into the downstream transport or disposal device. A success story also in the North American market The success story of the all-rounder in the North American market also began with the sale of the first HUBER RakeMax ® CF screen in 2020. In the first two years, over 18 machines have already been sold in a wide range of industrial and municipal applications. Projects and locations in the USA can be found, for example, in Escanaba, Michigan Thanks to its vertical installation and the associated minimal footprint, the RakeMax ® is ideal for the limited space available on site. In addition, the required throughput rates made the HUBER CentreFlow screen the ideal fit. Size: RakeMax ® CF 9300x400x750/6 Throughput: 7.25 MGD Commissioning date: July 2021 Bartow, Florida Due to the design with 4 mm bar spacing, the high separation performance requested by the customer could be met without any problems. The overall design of the HUBER RakeMax ® CF enables separation efficiencies that are usually in the range of those of two-dimensional perforated plate screens. Due to the one-dimensional design, the screen can handle significantly higher hydraulic flow rates compared to perforated plate screens. Size: RakeMax ® CF 3000x500x625/4 Throughput: 16.8 MGD Commissioning date: September 2022 Blue Bunny, Iowa Existing industrial pumping station that was operated in the past with a HUBER Pumping Stations Screen ROTAMAT ® RoK4. Due to the local conditions and the increasing throughput capacity, the HUBER Multi-Rake Bar Screen RakeMax ® CF fulfils all the necessary criteria for use in pumping stations. Furthermore, identical to the RoK4, there is the option of a lifting device to pull the machine vertically out of the pumping station if maintenance is to be carried out in a dismantled state. Size: RakeMax ® CF 4524x400x375/4 Throughput: 1 MGD Commissioning date: May 2023[...]

[...]Timpanogos, USA After the success story of thermal sewage sludge drying in the USA began with the Mooresville, North Carolina project in 2011 with a total investment volume of approx. 3.8 million US dollars, HUBER Technology Inc., the US subsidiary of HUBER, has now successfully won its largest dryer project to date with two HUBER Belt Dryers BT 30 and an investment volume of approx. 16.35 million USD. The delivery of the two ordered HUBER Belt Dryers of the largest size BT 30 is scheduled for June 2024. Commissioning of the dryers is planned for spring 2025 according to the customer. 4,000 cubic metres per hour The wastewater plant in Timpanogos, Utah receives the wastewater of more than 240,000 residents from 70,000 private, commercial and institutional wastewater connections. As part of the project, the plant with a total capacity of approx. 25 MGD (average 4,000 m³/h) will also be converted to anaerobic digestion before the HUBER belt dryers are installed. Work on the project started in June 2022. By this time, HUBER Technology Inc. had tested and analysed the first sludge samples from the existing plant in its own laboratory in consultation with the end customer. The process engineering layout of the thermal dryers is based on the current real sludge parameters of the plant, as the anaerobic digestion system has not yet been built and does not yet exist. Design data of the dryers: Solids content: > 14% DR Loss on ignition: 82.5% Dryer capacity: Hot water supply: 284 °F (140°C), from natural gas-fuelled boiler Solids load: 208.1 tonnes OS/day Water evaporation: approx. 7,300 kg water/h USA Second largest market for belt dryers worldwide The belt dryer market is a growth market not only globally, but also for HUBER Technology Inc. In 2022, the HUBER subsidiary was awarded the contract for two further belt dryer projects in addition to the Timpanogos project and was commissioned to supply and implement them. For the HUBER Group, the USA has now become the second largest belt dryer market in the world. It is worth mentioning that one of these orders involves the production of the first belt dryer in the USA, thus fulfilling state and federal funding requirements. Another important step in expanding the market share in the USA. Nine projects with eleven dryer lines There are a total of nine different projects with eleven dryer lines, from the BT 10 to the largest available size, the BT 30. The installations are spread across various states: North Carolina, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arkansas, Utah and Pennsylvania. The water evaporation rates range from 900 kg/h to almost 4,100 kg/h, depending on the dryer size and the actual drying temperature, which varies between 194°F and 284°F (90°C to 140°C).[...]

[...]Staßfurt and Spaichingen, Germany HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID – an innovative product with more and more success in Germany In 2017, HUBER was successful with its innovative HUBER CarbonWin ® system for carbon removal, winning projects in two federal states of Germany. We are now working busily on implementing the two projects in Saxony-Anhalt and Baden-Württemberg. Project Staßfurt – first HUBER CarbonWin ® system installation in Germany Staßfurt is a town in the Salzlandkreis district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. On 31 st January 1851, the town became the cradle of the worldwide potash mining industry. It was the seat of the Royal Prussian Salt Mine, the first potash mine in the world. When the first potash mine shafts were driven, Staßfurt experienced an enormous economic upswing due to the mining industry itself but also due to the chemical industry settling there. The sewage treatment plant Staßfurt is designed for 40,00 PE. As more and more industries have settled there, the inlet COD load has steadily increased and is now equivalent to approx. 46,000 PE. The nitrogen concentration, however, would suggest a plant size of 27,000 PE. Given these basic conditions, an economically attractive solution had to be found to eliminate the very large amounts of carbon generated on site. The overall concept would have to include the change of the process management from aerobic to anaerobic sludge stabilisation and digestion. To achieve this, it is necessary to build a primary clarification stage. With its reduced space requirements and economic efficiency, the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID represents the better alternative to a conventional primary clarifier. The HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID is applied for fine screening the wastewater and designed for a partial flow treatment of 100 l/s. As the total flow to the sewage treatment plant is 256 l/s under stormwater conditions, 156 l/s are discharged in this case. Due to the very high COD removal rate of the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID, the biological sewage treatment stage on site (see fig. 1) can soon be shut down. This will save considerable amounts of aeration energy. Moreover, the primary sludge generated from fine screening with the HUBER screen will be converted into energy-rich biogas in the digester and this biogas converted into electrical energy in a block heat and power plant. The principle of the treatment process on STP Staßfurt The HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID is installed downstream of the grit trap instead of a primary settling tank and integrated into the existing system. The maximum flow to the screen is controlled by a flow meter and control valve. Special focus has been placed on the fact that the HUBER screen is a gravity flow system. HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID screens are installed horizontally in the channel. The water flows through the screen from inside to outside. The maximum filter surface can be utilised due to the horizontal position of the screen drum and at the same time a very high maximum possible upstream level. As the water level upstream of the machine increases, a filter carpet is developing on the filter mesh. Due to the filter carpet leading to a deep bed filtration effect, all particles are retained that are much smaller than the nominal aperture size of the mesh. When the water level upstream of the drum screen reaches the maximum permissible water level, the screen basket is cleaned. The fine screenings (primary sludge) are removed from the screen surface and accumulate in the internal trough from where they are conveyed by gravity to the downstream continuous thickener. The statically thickened sludge from the continuous thickener is pumped into the digester or optionally further thickened in a HUBER Disc Thickener S-Disc unit. Also the surplus sludge generated is thickened in the HUBER Disc Thickener S-Disc prior to being pumped into the digester. Project Spaichingen Situated on the river Prim at the foot of the Dreifaltigkeitsberg hills, Spaichingen is the third largest market town in the district of Tuttlingen. The river Prim is a tributary of the upper reaches of the river Neckar in Baden-Württemberg and flows along the steep escarpment of the Albtrauf hills. The mountains Dreifaltigkeitsberg and Heuberg belong to the Danube Hills Nature Park. Designed or a capacity of 17,000 PE, the sewage treatment works Spaichingen clarifies the municipal and industrial wastewater of the municipalities Spaichingen and Balgheim. The sewage treatment plant is already operated as an anaerobic sludge stabilisation process with digestion. The maximum stormwater flow that can be handled by the plant is 175 l/s. After completion of this stage of extension it will have a capacity for 225 l/s. The sewage treatment plant is equipped with an Imhoff tank that is used as a primary clarifier. The Imhoff tank has reached its design capacity limit, this means that it fulfills its task under dry weather conditions and will do so in the future, but will be overloaded under stormwater conditions. Due to the planned plant extension by another 50 l/s a solution had to be found to improve the situation. Various options were discussed. The first approach under discussion was to integrate a two-line primary clarifier and shut down the Imhoff tank. There would have been enough space on site for this solution but they actually did not want to give up the Imhoff tank that still worked well with dry weather conditions and were therefore looking for an alternative. Mechanical carbon removal with a HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID as fine screening system was then found to be the all in all more economical solution. With the use of the Drum Screen LIQUID (with a throughput of 100 l/s in normal operation) it is possible to reduce the load on the Imhoff tank during peak hours and establish a controlled plant operation. Despite the capacity extension, the Imhoff tank can still be operated at its optimal operating point and, depending on its capacity utilisation, the HUBER Drum Screen can additionally be switched on as required to meet the requested separation results. A specific feature of this project is that the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID will be installed into an old aeration tank that is not needed anymore. There will additionally be a building in the tank to ensure optimal working conditions. The throughput is regulated by a flow meter with control valve installed downstream of the grit trap via gravity lines to the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID. The principle of the treatment process on STP Spaichingen The wastewater flows through the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID in tank from inside to outside (see fig. 3). The wastewater is fed via a gravity line downstream of the grit trap. As the water level upstream of the machine increases, a filter carpet is developing on the filter mesh. The fine screenings (primary sludge) are removed from the screen surface and accumulate in the internal trough from where they are conveyed to a downstream HUBER Wash Press WAP® liquid. With this dewatering system, a freely adjustable, defined DR content of the primary sludge can be achieved. An eccentric screw pump with buffer tank delivers the mechanically thickened primary sludge to the existing digester. The generated surplus sludge is thickened together with the primary sludge of the Imhoff tank or optionally further treated in a static thickener prior to being passed on to the digester. The projects Staßfurt and Spaichingen are in the construction phase and will go into service in summer 2018. Both sewage treatment plants are taking another step forward together with HUBER towards becoming a sewage treatment plant of the future.[...]

[...]Linz-Asten, Austria Replacement of coarse screens, refurbishment of screenings treatment system, new screenings removal and transport station On the largest sewage treatment plant in Upper Austria with a design size of 950,000 PE, the coarse screens were replaced and the screenings treatment system was refurbished. Furthermore, a screenings removal and transport station was built. The entire municipal area of the regional capital Linz and 39 neighbouring municipalities with a total catchment area of 900 km² are drained via the regional sewage treatment plant Asten. In addition, the biodegradable wastewaters from big industry companies are processed, such as wastewater from the coke smelting works Linz of Voestalpine Stahl GmbH and DSM Chemie. The industrial wastewater amounts to approx. 30% of the total flow. The maximum flow from the catchment area, which is drained primarily through a combined system, is 8.8 m³/s while the maximum dry weather flow is 2.7 m³/s. The location of the sewage treatment plant is characterized by the Danube barrage Abwinden-Asten. The pondage of the dam power station extends up to the city area of Linz. The location of the sewage treatment plant in the city’s eastern neighbour municipality Asten at the dam power station has therefore been selected to ensure the Linz sewers can drain by gravity on their way to the STP. The wastewater flow is lifted into the sewage treatment plant and there treated mechanically and biologically. The treated flow is passed to the tailwater of the power plant. The four old parallel-flow rake screens on site with 80 mm bar spacing were installed long ago, around the year 1979, when STP Asten went into service in the form it is now. The fine screens were replaced in 2000 by revolving chain screens with 10 mm bar spacing. HUBER supplied the associated conveyors and screenings treatment systems for the new fine screens and the wash press for the coarse screens. As the regional sewage treatment plant Linz is a training site for sewage works operators and also frequently visited as a destination of excursions, and of course for technical reasons as well, it was necessary to replace the coarse screens by a state-of-the-art solution and reduce the odour nuisance inside the screening chamber. The old parallel-flow screens with 80 mm bar spacing were dismounted and HUBER Multi-Rake Bar Screen RakeMax® units with 35 mm bar spacing installed instead. The new screens have a smaller bar spacing and higher separation efficiency so that larger amounts of screenings are generated but the revolving chain screens can cope with this as their surface is cleaned very quickly. Double screw conveyors with 600 / 500 mm diameter were installed at right angles to the four new coarse screens and the four fine screens, which are all arranged side by side. The screw conveyors transport the screenings into HUBER Wash Press WAP® units size 2x8. Each of the wash presses has a capacity of 16 m³/h raw material throughput. The two double wash presses dewater the screenings and push them through four pipes installed at a steep angle, up to above the screenings loading point for removal and transport. At the end of these four pipes the screenings plugs are broken up to avoid undefined big agglomerations. At four points, the broken up screenings fall into a screw which distributes them into one of two covered roll-off containers (which one depends on the direction of screw rotation). Each of the containers has a gable-roof shaped cover. Under the “ridge” of the cover, a screw conveyor with open bottom distributes the material longitudinally in the container. When the container is full, the distribution screw reverses its conveying direction and starts to fill the other container. The refurbishing project was planned by the engineering office Dr. Lengyel ZT-GmbH in Vienna. We would like to say “thank you” to the BDL engineers and the plant managers of STP Asten for the excellent collaboration right from the beginning up to commissioning – we always enjoyed the congenial and constructive working atmosphere very much![...]

[...]Øygarden, Norway In Øygarden, one of the most modern wastewater treatment plants in the country was built - with innovative and optimally matched HUBER technology. Watch the video below to get an impression of the entire purification process at this remarkable wastewater treatment plant. After IFAT 2018, HUBER reported about the order for the Fjellvar project, which is the largest HUBER order in Norway so far. In cooperation with the Swedish plant manufacturer Purac and the HUBER service team from Norway and Germany, the supplied HUBER complete solution was installed and successfully commissioned at the end of 2019. The overall project was coordinated by HUBER Sweden in cooperation with HUBER Germany. The first commissioning went off quite smoothly in less than a week. At the beginning of 2020, the Fjellvar wastewater treatment plant was then able to start up on schedule. The smooth and on-schedule implementation of this complex process and mechanical engineering project shows exemplarily how advantageous it is when "everything comes from one source". The municipality of Fjell on Norway's west coast, just outside the town of Bergen, comprises more than 300 large and small islands. Since the late seventies a bridge has connected Fjell with Bergen, Norway's second largest and fast growing city. Fjell, where property prices are still cheaper than in the big city of Bergen, is also growing steadily and has now become a residential and sleeping settlement, where 23,000 people live today. By 2050, the population is expected to reach 40,000. The construction of another bridge is planned, which will shorten the distances for commuters to and from Bergen. Due to this development, it was also decided to build a new, central sewage treatment plant. The company FjellVAR was awarded the contract to design the plant, whereby the various districts and settlements will be connected via tunnel systems. One of the main reasons for awarding the project to Purac was the very limited space available for the construction of the Fjellvar treatment plant. For this reason, the sewage treatment plant was completely planned into a mountain called Storanipa. The concept provides for a multi-stage expansion, which includes compliance with the following minimum standards: Limit value stage 1 (without biological stage): 20% reduction of BOD 5 or < 40 mg/l BOD 5 in the outlet and > 50 % reduction of filterable solids (FS) or < 60 mg FS/l in the outlet of the sewage treatment plant Limit value stage 2 (with biological stage): 70% reduction of BOD 5 or < 25 mg BOD 5 in the outlet and 75% reduction of COD or < 125 mg COD/l in the outlet of the sewage treatment plant In addition to a service contract for 15 years including the necessary wear and spare parts, HUBER's offer included a mass balance as well as calculations of the energy, polymer and water consumption of the entire system and a variety of machines. For the specified operating conditions with 300 l/s (500 l/s design capacity) and 100% redundancy, HUBER put together a solution consisting of the following machine technology: Preliminary screening and grit trap: 3 x HUBER Complete Plant ROTAMAT ® Ro5 with 6 mm screen Grit treatment: 1 x HUBER Coanda Grit Washer RoSF4 Fine screening: 6 x HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID Sludge thickening: 2 x HUBER Disc Thickener S-DISC Sludge dewatering: 2 x HUBER Screw Press S-PRESS With a conventional primary clarifier, the separation efficiency can only be improved, depending on particle size, by providing more surface area and thus space. For this reason, the system of mechanical separation of primary sludge with a HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID is up to ten times more economical in terms of space requirement than a traditional primary clarifier. High throughput capacity with low pressure loss Small space requirement Specially developed PU sealing system in the inlet section for best possible separation efficiency Stable stainless steel mesh for maximum operational reliability Automatic high-pressure cleaning with process water Low wear, low maintenance costs Low energy consumption Also in this project, HUBER could impressively demonstrate how an economic and powerful solution can be designed with innovative products and extensive experience and finally be successfully implemented in a cross-company cooperation. At this point, we would like to thank everyone involved in Norway, Sweden and Germany. Complete wastewater treatment at the Øygarden WWTP in Norway Pointing-the-way, highly efficient wastewater treatment with HUBER Technology[...]

[...]Our demonstration plants with the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID for the reduction of the pollution load in the inlet to wastewater treatment plants are in great demand and fully booked until 2020. Even in the local press, our machine technology receives attention again and again. On average, the location of a trial plant changes every 8 weeks. To ensure that everything runs smoothly, a well-coordinated, proven HUBER team takes over the organisation and integrates the responsible persons on site. Two applications are in special demand by our customers: Bridging operation during the rehabilitation of existing primary treatment and/or aeration tanks Not only the machine technology on a sewage treatment plant is subject to wear and requires regular maintenance and overhaul. The same applies, only at longer intervals, to concrete structures such as primary clarifiers or aeration tanks. Such a rehabilitation requires well-thought-out planning, as the cleaning performance of the plant must not be impaired even when individual tanks are shut down. The mobile plant with the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID can play an important role here by removing particulate carbon from the untreated wastewater. Thus, such a tank rehabilitation can be carried out during operation of the wastewater treatment plant and still ensure the purification performance of the wastewater treatment plant is maintained. Trial operation for technical primary clarification during a sewage treatment plant conversion In the course of planning for the conversion and/or expansion of a sewage treatment plant, many points need to be clarified. Frequent questions are among others: What measures need to be taken to increase the capacity of the sewage treatment plant in a space-saving and cost-efficient way? Is it worthwhile to change from aerobic sludge stabilisation to anaerobic digestion with digester and energetic utilisation of the sewage gas? What effect does mechanical pre-clarification have on cleaning performance and the aeration energy necessary for the biological treatment stage? What are the advantages of using a drum screen? Regardless of the task at hand, the mobile HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID unit is prepared for it. The test plant can be fed with raw wastewater either by pumps or by gravity. Solids separated during operation of the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID accumulate as thin sludge, which must be further thickened and disposed of. If the wastewater treatment plant already has a digester, the thin sludge can be fed to the existing sludge treatment system. However, if the trial operation is carried out on a sewage treatment plant where no sludge treatment has been available so far, different solutions are possible in practice, depending on the specific conditions on site: Mechanical thickening: The thin sludge is mechanically thickened to approx. 5% with a mobile plant and transported to the nearest sewage treatment plant with free capacities in a digester. For mobile thickening, HUBER uses a trial plant with the HUBER Disc Thickener S-DISC. Mechanical dewatering: The thin sludge is mechanically dewatered with a mobile unit to approx. 25% DR and disposed of together with the screenings. For mobile dewatering, HUBER uses a trial plant with the HUBER Screw Press Q-PRESS ® . Static thickening: Existing tanks or a converted polishing pond can be used as static thickeners. The thickened sludge can then be disposed of at the end of the trial operation. In the case of bridging or trial operation, the logistics for the disposal of the thickened sludge must be ensured by the plant operator. The amount of screenings/sludge produced must not be underestimated. If the mobile plant is fed with the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID at maximum throughput, a 7 m³ container may be filled overnight despite thickening with a HUBER Disc Thickener S-DISC. Whatever the application, the advantages of the mobile trial plant with the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID are: High operational reliability Small space requirement High flexibility Sufficient throughput capacities for wastewater treatment plants from 10,000 - 50,000 PE HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID - trial units offer: 50 - 250 m³/h wastewater screening Volume control proportional to the sewage treatment plant inflow HUBER Operation Control HOC system with online data recording Fig. 1: Validation operation - a pump sump was retrofitted into an existing buffer tank with concrete shaft segments. The demonstration plant HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID is fed with the effluent from the mechanical pre-treatment system. The effluent (screened wastewater) of the LIQUID machine flows by gravity back into the buffer tank Fig. 2: Bridging operation - pump feeding of the demonstration plant HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID (right container) and discharge of screened wastewater by gravity, thin sludge thickening with a mobile HUBER Disc Thickener S-DISC (left container) Fig. 3: Thickened primary sludge from the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID demo unit after a HUBER Disc Thickener S-DISC Fig. 4: Validation operation - HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID demo unit (right container) combined with the HUBER Screw Press Q-PRESS® demo unit (left container) Fig. 5: Mechanically dewatered thin sludge from the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID demo unit in a HUBER Screw Press Q-PRESS® Fig. 6: Bridging operation - polishing pond converted into a settling pond for static thickening of the thin sludge from the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID demonstration plant[...]

[...]Development of innovative sewage treatment technology as a component for energy self-sufficient treatment plants For the process changeover from aerobic to anaerobic sludge stabilisation fine screening systems represent a highly interesting alternative when it comes to reducing the solids loads in the biological treatment stage. Fine screening achieves better removal rates than a conventional primary settling tank but on a much smaller footprint and with significantly lower investment costs. Changeover from aerobic to anaerobic sludge stabilisation reduces aeration costs by at least 20-25%. The reduction is achieved through removal of the carbon upstream of the biological treatment stage of the wastewater treatment plant, e.g. by building a preliminary settling tank or installing a HUBER fine screening system. Due to continuously increasing energy costs, changing from an aerobic to an anaerobic process frequently makes sense for sewage treatment plants for economic reasons. The research project E-Klär (BMBF FKZ 02WER1319F) examines among other issues the "Increased gas yield through solids input". In cooperation with the research institution ISA (university of Aachen) and the water authority Ruhrverband processes for the removal of pollution loads in wastewater flows are tested on an industrial scale and analysed on a scientific level. HUBER supplies the mechanical equipment that is required to carry out the tests. The central element of the research project are the 68 municipal sewage treatment plants operated by the Ruhrverband. These are plants of all sizes and cover a wide spectrum of different processes for sewage treatment. On many of them, whether bigger or smaller, block heat and power stations are installed to provide for the energetic use of the biogas that is generated by the anaerobic sludge stabilisation process. On most of these sewage treatment plants the electric and thermal energy is mainly used directly on site. The project with a duration of three years started at the beginning of 2015. Here is a summary of the test results: Results of carbon removal with a HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID Reduction achieved for filterable solids with a plant size of 28,500 PE Reduction achieved for total COD with a plant size of 28,500 PE Reduction achieved for filterable solids with a plant size of 17,000 PE Reduction achieved for total COD with a plant size of 17,000 PE The results of the tests carried out on two sewage treatment plants are presented in the following. The design size of the sewage treatment plants is 17,000 PE and 28,500 PE. On both plants, the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID was operated for approximately five weeks, with different throughputs of up to 35 l/s. Both plants have installed a 6 mm preliminary screen and a conventional grit trap. The wastewater was taken from the channel downstream of the grit trap and pumped to the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID. Figure 6 shows the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID in compact design with (optional) downstream mechanical screenings thickening which is performed by a HUBER Wash Press WAP® liquid installed in a tank. Samples marked "2-h" are two-hour random samples (composite samples) taken during the day, while samples marked "10 h" are ten-hour composite samples taken during the night. Additionally, time-proportional 24-hour daily mixed samples were taken and analysed. The figure on the right show that an average total COD reduction of 51-57% and AFS reduction of 71-72% could be achieved on both sewage treatment plants with the use of a HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID. These results were achieved without adding polymer. The separation capacity of conventional primary settlement tanks with material residence times of 0.5 to 1 h is 25% COD reduction and 50% AFS reduction according to ATV A 131. Sewage treatment plant 1 with 28,500 PE had a rate of external water of approximately 75%. This background explains the significantly reduced concentrations of AFS and COD in the inflow. Despite of the high rate of external water, more than 90% of all measurements showed a COD elimination of more than 50%. The low AFS concentrations could also be reduced by on average 72%. On sewage treatment plant 2 with 17,000 PE, the inlet concentrations of > 600 mg/l COD are high compared to plant 1. The reduction achieved on this plant was 71% on average for AFS and 51% for COD. These excellent outcomes result from the special functional principle of the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID. The screen is equipped with a fine 0.1-0.3 mm stainless steel mesh. Due to these small apertures the screen retains even finer particles which could not be removed by primary sedimentation. Through screening alone, the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID achieves results comparable to a conventional primary settlement tank. Due to the additional effect of deep bed filtration, however, the fine screen is able to remove much more COD and AFS from the wastewater flow than a conventional primary settlement tank. Deep bed filtration is enabled by the filter carpet that is formed inside the drum by the separated solidst. Contrary to a primary settlement tank, it is possible to specifically influence AFS and COD removal efficiency of the drum screen by changing the mesh aperture of the screen. Depending on the specific length of the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID, flow rates of up to 200 l/s per machine are possible. This allows for space-saving solutions when it comes to reducing the strain on overloaded sewage treatment plants or increasing the capacity of the plants. Such a system is also suitable to be used if run-down aeration tanks need to be refurbished as one of several aeration tanks can be shut down during its refurbishment without any loss of capacity on the sewage treatment plant. The installation of a HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID needs only about one tenth of the space of a primary settlement tank and is therefore perfect to be used as a replacement for the primary clarifier especially on sewage treatment plants where the available space is too limited to install a conventional primary settling tank (figure on the right). Process description of the HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID for carbon removal To achieve the aim of mechanically reducing the loads in the bio-system and replace a primary settling tank, a HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID was used in place of a primary settling tank when changing from an aerobic treatment process to anaerobic treatment with sludge digestion. The HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID is a new development that has been designed on the basis of the operation principle of the traditional HUBER Rotary Drum Screen ROTAMAT® units. The innovation uses external screenings treatment and allows for flexibility in location selection for the screenings predewatering system. The screenings can simply be flushed into the screenings press through a pipeline, against the direction of the wastewater flow from the drum screen. Furthermore, a trough with connected pipeline is installed inside the screen drum that provides an extremely flexible and easy solution for screenings transport to the HUBER Screenings Wash Press WAP® liquid. The maximum filter surface can be utilised due to the horizontal position of the screen drum and at the same time a very high maximum possible upstream level. Very high throughputs with excellent separation results can thus be achieved. Options of Screenings Thickening In the HUBER Screenings Wash Press WAP® liquid, which has especially been developed for the treatment of fine screenings, the generated screenings are predewatered to DS contents of up to 10% without the use of any polymers. The dewatering degree can directly be influenced as the HUBER Screenings Wash Press WAP® liquid is equipped with exchangeable perforated plates. The screenings separated by the fine screen are flushed into the wash press through a gravity pipeline. A part of the liquid phase can drain off through the very fine perforated plate inside the wash press. In practice, a DS content of approx. 3-4% has turned out to be reasonable for the digester. The thickened screenings from the WAP® liquid can directly be delivered into the digester by means of an eccentric screw pump. As applicable, the sludge can alternatively be treated in a continuous thickener, or the primary and secondary sludge are thickened together. Owing to our extensive experience of the past years and the reliable operation principle of the Drum Screen LIQUID, it was possible once more to successfully develop an innovation for the future – another major step towards an energy self-sufficient sewage treatment plant.[...]