Time for Heroes at IFAT Munich: GEA presents decanter and new granulator for economical operation of wastewater treatment plants

GEA also relies on environmentally friendly circular economy for stand construction

GEA attaches great importance to environmentally friendly recycling management in stand construction. This means that the stand components, such as furniture, can be reused for further trade fairs. The carpet can also be easily recycled after the trade show.

Dry substance content, energy consumption, maintenance and polymer consumption are key cost drivers

For all types of disposals, i.e. incineration, landfilling and agricultural utilization, the optimum economic dewatering of sewage sludge is a key technology. Central cost drivers in sludge thickening and dewatering are dry substance content, energy consumption, maintenance, and polymer consumption.

The basic idea is that less sewage sludge to be disposed of saves transport costs, reduces energy consumption for drying and incineration, and reduces CO₂ emissions. Since the machines are in almost continuous use in many applications, the energy requirement in relation to throughput is an important cost factor.

Concrete figures demonstrate the opportunities for cost and energy savings. For example, in the disposal of sewage sludge, disposal costs account for around 75 percent of total costs. 20 percent are costs for operating materials such as polymer. Energy costs account for around five percent.

Time for Heroes: Optimal dewatering reduces sludge disposal costs

With decanter solutions from GEA, each of the cost factors outlined can be influenced. It is no coincidence that GEA has chosen the motto "Time for Heroes" for its appearance at this year's IFAT. Cost and efficiency advantages arise from many years of experience in solid-liquid separation. GEA's UCA 365 from 1962 was already a leader in terms of efficiency in the dewatering of industrial and sewage sludges, even in comparison with competitors at that time. The UCA 365 achieved efficient dewatering of sewage sludge and reduced the volume of sewage sludge by up to 90 percent.

How have the "old heroes" changed since then?

The established technology has evolved significantly in recent years - towards modern machine types such as the new GEA biosolids Decanter pro 3200. The continuous development of the decanters was about reducing the energy consumption of the centrifuges and increasing their throughput without compromising separation performance at the same time. GEA's experts identified appropriate adjusting screws. Among other things, the GEA biosolids Decanters ensure optimum separation efficiency through a high g-force and a high degree of dewatering with significantly reduced sludge volume through process-optimized torque control.

In addition, GEA engineers developed further solutions such as a deep pond design for maximum separation efficiency and a gentle inlet geometry for optimum flocculation and low wear. All product-contacting parts are made of stainless steel. Added to this are lower space requirements (m³/h per m²) and easy accessibility to all components. This in turn leads to trouble-free operation and easy maintenance.

Worldwide repair network with comprehensive know-how and service offering

GEA is also working on solutions for ongoing operations to tap further optimization potential, because operators demand the highest possible machine availability, ideally around the clock every day. To support them in this, GEA has positioned its service offering well and supports customers worldwide with state-of-the-art repairs: More than 150 employees at 17 locations are dedicated to the repair business with a clear focus on fast order processing and delivery of the highest quality. More than 5,000 repairs are carried out annually in GEA's workshops, which cover a total area of over 30,000 m². To avoid bottlenecks in the operation, more than 450 rental bowls and screws and over 300 exchange bowls and screws are available. All GEA workshops are certified to DIN EN ISO 9001 and a specially trained product safety officer monitors compliance with the high quality standards at each location.