Operations Optimization
- 1. Energy Optimization System for wastewater treatment
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1-1 Challenges
How to reduce operating costs while sustaining water quality and complying with stringent regulations?
The biggest opportunity lays in the energy consumption. Indeed, energy costs can account for 30% of wastewater treatment operating
costs and in a country like the United States, water and wastewater services represent 3% of the national energy consumption.
Operators and managers of wastewater treatment plants are responding by integrating energy efficiency and management
to their business strategy - whatever the number, size and type of plants, and regardless of whether they already exist or are new facilities.
1-2 Solutions
Energy Optimization System is a management and information system enabling wastewater treatment plant managers
and operators to tap into dormant energy saving potential, optimize their energy use and sourcing,
cut energy-related operating costs and manager their carbon emissions.
1-3 Value Proposition
Energy Optimization System enables wastewater treatment plant managers and operators to manage their energy and make the decisions that improve their energy efficiency, productivity and business sustainability while maintaining the water quality:
· Understand and reduce your energy consumption for:
- Same water quality for less kWh and kJ,
- More wastewater treated for less kWh and kJ,
· Identify and benchmark best practices across your sites,
· Negotiate better utility contracts, avoid billing errors, sub-bill more accurately,
· Optimize your energy sources,
· Improve your energy quality,
· Reduce your energy costs per cubic meter of wastewater treated,
· Improve your CO2 emission management for a lower footprint,
· Comply with environmental laws and regulations.
1-4 Differentiation Factors
· Tailor-made for wastewater treatment plants: based on key performance indicators developed with wastewater treatment experts
· Fully customizable and effective decision-making web-enabled dashboards
· Ready-to-go with existing wastewater treatment plants and other enterprise information systems and portals (process control, etc.)
· Designed for new and existing sites (optimization of the existing installed base)
· Simple and modular to meet plants¡¯ configurations, energy management objectives and investment capacities as they evolve.
· Tested, validated and documented
· Implemented and supported
- 2. Process Optimization
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Water and wastewater treatment processes involve mechanical, biological, chemical, and human elements,
all of which must fall within in the correct range of values for the treatment system to be effective and reliable.
The misalignment of just one of these components can result in a process that is inefficient and expensive to maintain.
In the worst cases, processes fail completely, leading to non-compliance with environmental
permits or poor quality water that adversely affects your production process.
Water and wastewater treatment process optimization reduces the occurrence of problems, protects the environment,
ensures regulatory compliance, and saves you money.
During the first stage of process optimization, we¡¯ll conduct a thorough evaluation of the process parameters
and the external elements that affect the process.These parameters include, but are not limited to:
· The wastewater-generating process
· Chemicals used in the process
· The raw water source
· Chemical and physical water and wastewater characteristics
· Flows and loadings of all pertinent inputs
· Peak loads and potential upset conditions
· Variability, both normal and unusual events
· Desired water or effluent quality
Next, we¡¯ll review the complete treatment process and test the equipment. The evaluation includes an assessment of:
· Process type (e.g. physical/chemical, biological, mechanical, electrochemical, membrane, etc.)
· Equipment design and capacity
· Equipment condition
· Operating and maintenance procedures
· Appropriateness of the process and equipment
We¡¯ll also evaluate the process controls, instrumentation, and monitoring processes to determine whether
they provide the right information and/or the right control functionality.
We¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re:
· Monitoring the right parameters at the right location
· Using the right test to measure parameters
· Collecting test samples properly and at the right locations
· Collecting and evaluating lab data effectively
· Logging physical and visual observations and using them to evaluate process health
· Logging data for future historical evaluations
· Using appropriate controls for the desired process adjustments
· Using the right type of instrumentation at the right location in the process
· Making the correct adjustments based on good data
We¡¯ll assess your chemical usage by confirming:
· Proper chemicals are used only as needed
· Proper chemical dosage is based on use tests (e.g. jar tests, titrations)
· Use conditions are appropriate (e.g. pH, alkalinity, temperature)
· Chemicals are prepared correctly (e.g. flocculant polymers)
· Chemicals are mixed and dispersed effectively
Finally, we will assess operator knowledge to confirm that your staff understands the process required
for optimal system operation. The operator assessment covers:
· Manufacturing process and chemistry basics
· Treatment plant process fundamentals
· Treatment process parameters and control methods
· Target ranges for control parameters and how to adjust them
· The effect of variability on treatment processes
· Lab tests and physical/visual monitoring
· On-line controls
· Responding to upset conditions
Following our comprehensive assessment and subsequent implementation of recommendations,
you¡¯ll be able to rest assured that your system is running smoothly.