Energy-efficient wastewater treatment with digital support
With energy-efficient water technology and digital support at its Saarbrücken site, the technology group ZF is reducing energy consumption by 78% and thus 363 tonnes of CO2 per year.
What we did
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Task
Task
Analysing the production processes at the Saarbrücken site has shown that there is potential for improvement in the wastewater treatment processes. In production, up to 65 m³ of wastewater of a highly heterogeneous compositions are produced every day. Together with EnviroChemie, all processes were evaluated to identify how they could be optimised as sustainably as possible.
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Solution
Solution
On this basis, an innovative process combination was developed with an Envopur® ultrafiltration system at its core. The new concept utilises existing tanks for buffering and pre-treatment of the ultrafiltration. The energy-efficient ultrafiltration ensures an exceptional water discharge quality. It has replaced the existing evaporator system since January 2023.
As the operating staff require a higher level of expertise to operate the ultrafiltration system, EnviroChemie experts trained the operators at ZF. The digital service platform WaterExpert™ supports system operation. The app’s integrated InformationHUB collects the data, visualises the most important KPIs and provides the required documents in a straightforward interface.
At the same time, the app assists operators in their day-to-day tasks: from sending alerts to their smartphones via push notifications and providing recommendations for action during maintenance work and inspection tours, all the way up to periodic reports. This saves time and cuts down on documentation work whilst also providing transparent visualisations of trends and overviews.
As a result, energy consumption was cut significantly as early as in the first six months.
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Benefits
Benefits
The existing plant will be utilised for the new wastewater treatment and expanded with innovative process technology. A highly transparent, fast, reliable and sustainable solution was thus realised in collaboration with ZF.
The ultrafiltration system has reduced the energy consumption for wash water treatment at the Saarbrücken site (Site 1) by 78% - this results in a CO2 saving of 363 tonnes per year.
The selected process technology is also suitable as a preliminary stage for possible water recycling, meaning that valuable drinking water could be saved at the site. The new, energy-efficient Envopur® ultrafiltration systems of the new wastewater treatment plant mean more sustainable and resource-efficient wastewater treatment at ZF’s site in Saarbrücken.
Reference projects
