Netzsch Lubrication Pump Installation Provides Solution for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant

A city in the US operates a state-of-the-art water reclamation facility that handles a current average flow of 64.5 million litre per day. This facility provides the city with the ability to maximize the operational efficiency of wastewater treatment and water resources as well as produce extremely clear reclaimable water.

Due to the increased demands, the existing pump installation could not meet their requirements, leading to high maintenance costs.

Customer reaches out for a quick solution

The technical solution from Netzsch was to use a ring dosing nozzle. It consists of a multi-stage Netzsch progressing cavity pump and a Netzsch ring nozzle. The system works by pumping a lubricant – in this case water – through the pump to the ring nozzle. The 200 mm Netzsch ring nozzle is designed to provide a continuous 360˚ even layer of water around the entire pipe surface so that the dried sludge moves through the pipe at a lower pressure. In this case, the customer decided to use water as the lubricant instead of polymer to reduce costs. Netzsch is also able to supply products for pumping sludge cake with up to 50% solids content, equipped with bridge-breaking devices such as paddles and patented aBP-Modules.

System Pressure is Lowered

The resulting customer benefit was that the pressure in the system was reduced from almost 20 bar to 10 bar leading to safer system operation. Once the first Netzsch ring dosing nozzle was installed, it was quickly followed by two more so that all three of the sludge drying lines at the water reclamation plant are now served by a Netzsch ring dosing nozzle. With the Netzsch ring dosing nozzle operating for approximately two years, the customer has seen a longer service life of parts (rotor/stator) for the dewatered sludge pump. An additional benefit for the customer was a lower energy demand for pumping the dewatered sludge.