BIOTIM® AUTOPILOTAUTOMATED OPERATION OF THE ANAEROBIC REACTOR

BIOTIM® AUTOPILOT - AUTOMATED OPERATION OF THE ANAEROBIC REACTOR

Nieuwstraat 26, 3150 Wespelaar, Belgiumt. +32 (0) 16 65 06 57 - f. +32 (0) 16 65 06 63info@waterleau.com - www.waterleau.com

Because of the higher sensitivity of anaerobic biomass, operating an anaerobic wastewater treatment plant requires a high level of operator follow-up and understanding of anaerobic treatment processes; a slight change in any of the critical parameters needs to be answered with the right action to keep the process conditions optimal, e.g. an increased VFA typically requires a decrease of the organic load to the reactor, thus requiring a reduction of the feedflow. Today the determination of most of these key parameters requires the lengthy manual lab analysis and occurs only once a day at best. So any fluctuations that occur during the day go by unnoticed to the staff controlling the plant. When an action needs to be taken, it can only be done based on the lab results of the day before. In this 24 hours’ time span the situation could have been stabilized or deteriorated even more.

Automated Monitoring Optimal Performance 24/7The LUCAS® Autopilot system continuously monitors the key parameters using specially designed in-line analysing apparatus. The results of these “automated labs” are automatically tranferred and processed in our Autopilot control software. Commands are sent to the PLC. The BIOTIM® Autopilot software becomes the beating heart of our anaerobic treatment plant. With this information the Autopilot system is able to adjust important parameters such as feed flow, organic load, pH… according to the real time conditions.

This means that with the BIOTIM® Autopilot system the anaerobic digestion process is not only protected from long exposure to unstable conditions, but can also be kept in optimal conditions, 24/7! Optimized conditions inevitably lead to reduced operating costs of the WWTP, thanks to an increased overall COD removal efficiency (and thus better effluent quality) and increased overall biogas production.

The BIOTIM® Autopilot optimizes the utilization of the anaerobic reactor capacity. It allows the anaerobic reactor to operate in a stable way close or beyond the design capacity. In some particular cases this might avoid having to extend the treatment plant capacity.

Advantages � Process protection

� Against calamities � Against toxicities � Against overloading

� Against human error in the lab or in operation

� Optimized process leads to reduction in costs � Better effluent quality

� Less organic matter to next treatment step � Less activated sludge production in aerobic

treatment step � Less sludge dewatering costs

� Better biogas production � Less lab analyses � Less operator actions required;

� Optimized utilization of the treatment capacity

� Automated monitoring and reporting of critical parameters

Complexity of Anaerobic Digestion Process

ONLINE MONITORINGpH

Temperature

COD removal efficiency

Volatile Fatty Acids

Alkalinity

Biogas production

In�uent Analyzer

E�uent Analyzer

Equalisation Tank

BIOTIM®UASBAnaerobic Treatment

Anaerobic E�uent Tank

Post Aeration Tank

BIOTIM® Autopilot