Electric actuators manufactured by AUMA are assisting flow control processes at a major WwTW in Tullamore, Ireland which has been hailed a landmark environmental scheme. The project is the latest in a series of EPS Group contracts for the global actuation technology specialist: other sites that have adopted the company’s valve control devices include Waterford Main Drainage, Sligo Main Drainage and Kinsale WwTW.
Expansion of the Tullamore scheme included construction of a new wastewater treatment works with a 45,000 Population Equivalent capacity and sludge treatment centre. The project was designed to achieve several challenging environmental goals relating to improvements in the quality of the receiving water and the sustainable management of wastewater treatment sludges.
Selected for their modular adaptability, AUMA actuators were adopted in flow rate control, weir penstock applications and on/off flow path control on process piping systems.
They were also used for air flow control on high efficiency aeration systems.
Key design features of the scheme include sludge digestion and thermal drying which is a first for the Irish WwTW industry for a plant of this scale. This, and other refinements, set the project apart in terms of its environmentally beneficial impact.
The EPS Group reports that objectives achieved have included ammonia and phosphorus removal from the wastewater to very low levels; the abandonment of a number of highly polluting overflows in the vicinity of the existing plant; limiting the frequency of untreated discharges in wet weather and treatment of wastewater sludges to standards which allow for beneficial re-use.