ROBOX evolution at the service of biological waste water treatment

Robuschi has always been a leader in the waste water treatment sector with its range of machines: from the ROBOX Evolution blower units to the new ROBOX Screw - the innovative, “oil-free”, low pressure screw compressor that guarantees energy savings of up to 30% compared with traditional technologies. In recent years, the company has focused on widening its range, offering a complete package for the environment sector and also developing a specific blower unit for BIOGAS and ROBOX Evolution BIOGAS applications, along with the simplified version, CRBIO. These are used as support units for feeding endothermic motors to produce energy and/or hot water, for driving gas turbines and gas burners to produce electricity, and for recirculating biogas in digesters.

Robox Lobe blower package installed in compressor room

The environmental WASTE RECYCLING services

 

The WASTE RECYCLING group was established in Castelfranco di Sotto, in the province of Pisa. For over 20 years its companies have been working on the disposal and treatment of industrial waste. Thanks to its considerable experience built up in this sector, its highly qualified personnel, and the ground-breaking plants and equipment it uses (including a modern, fully equipped chemical analysis and research laboratory shared with university and technical institutes), WASTE RECYCLING can offer the best solutions for the correct disposal of residues produced by any type of activity. Reliability, professionalism and a fair disposal price have made this company a competitive and firm point of reference throughout Italy.

 

Application

 

The WASTE RECYCLING plants contain a section for traditional biological waste water treatment, consisting of two refluent oxygenation tanks, reactivated with official authorisation in 2009 after many years of non-use. The plant was fitted with 6 compressors using centrifugal technology, which were poorly suited to the company's needs.

 

Interview with Roberto Boschi, head of the WASTE RECYCLING wwt plant

 

What led you to include Robuschi products in your process? When did this come about?

"The machines we were using offered good performance levels but didn't fully meet our requirements. They weren't modular, they were extremely delicate, and they had high maintenance costs. That's why we decided, in March 2013, to install 6 ROBOX Evolution blower units (ES 106) equipped with a noise enclosure and frequency inverter. This solution turned out to be excellent, as the system is highly flexible in terms of the amount of air used. In fact, by adapting the capacity levels to the ideal oxygenation of the system, we were able to optimise the energy costs without producing any waste: we altered the capacity from the minimum value to a maximum of 54 Hz. The involvement of Robuschi has also permitted us to maximise the space available in the compressor room, developing a practical layout and even fitting the machines with silencers. The encouraging results in relation to energy savings, along with the extremely easy use and maintenance of these machines and the quiet level of plant operation, led us to choose Robuschi for our MBR membrane biological system too; in July of this year we installed 2 Robuschi compressors for refluent oxygenation and 2 for cleaning the membranes with the aid of air and thereby preventing the risk of clogging."

Does the energy saving aspect have any effect on your decisions?

"Energy savings are one of the fundamental aspects, as the energy efficiency of the plant plays a big part in the company's management costs. The Robuschi devices help us optimise our costs and minimise waste; this is undoubtedly one of our success factors, allowing us to maintain a fair disposal price and therefore ensuring us a firm presence on the market."

In your experience, what are the current priorities when choosing one technological solution over another?

"With regards our own experience, I can definitely say flexibility, easy plant maintenance and a low impact on management and maintenance costs".

How do you imagine your sector in the near future?

"When it comes to solid waste, we'll have to adapt to the marketrequest. There's a continuous shift from the idea of a transitory waste platform to an end disposal system for material treatment and recovery, with the ultimate goal being the use of unsorted waste to produce energy. With regards liquid waste (which, following the ever stricter regulations on industrial waste disposal, are without doubt an expanding area), we'll meet the market requirements by installing additional systems for treating any type of waste including, for instance, pharmaceutical waste with a high polluting element. A first step in that direction was certainly the fact of fitting out the chemical/physical section with a triple-action evaporation system that can manage 17,000 tonnes of waste in a year."