| [07/07/2008] - Berlin Sewage Treatment Plants with Knürr Control Centers |  back |
Get that water flowin'!Reliable and ergonomic operation at Berlin sewage treatment plants with Knürr control centers
The UEFA European Football Championship had the whole of Germany enthralled yet again. Millions of viewers were glued to the games for the entire tournament - and almost just as many had to answer nature's call during the half times. "These kinds of peak times are predictable and can be correspondingly planned for," explains Katrin Popp, system planner for automation technology in the process engineering unit of the Schönerlinde treatment plant outside Berlin. "But sewage disposal networks shouldn't just work smoothly at peak times. A sewage treatment plant must be ready for operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," she adds.
Schönerlinde is one of six treatment plants operated by Berliner Wasserbetriebe, which with 4,850 employees, is one of the biggest drinking water supply and sewage disposal companies in Germany. Berliner Wasserbetriebe has been supplying clean and fresh water since 1852. The wastewater from the capital city and countless surrounding communities is disposed of via the Ruhleben treatment plant in Berlin and the Wansdorf, Waßmansdorf, Münchehofe, Stahnsdorf and Schönerlinde plants in Brandenburg. To provide efficient and fault-free wastewater disposal, Berliner Wasserbetriebe operates a 9,439 km drainage system with 233,000 individual hook-ups, 147 pumping stations and a pressurized wastewater pipeline network that is over 1,100 km long. In 2007 the treatment plants cleaned up 233 million m³ of wastewater from Berlin and the surrounding areas. "The Schönerlinde plant has a treatment capacity of 105,000 m³ a day. This performance requires a perfectly functioning control station where the automated processes of the wastewater and sludge treatment and all secondary processes can be monitored, coordinated and controlled," says Ms. Popp in explaining some of the treatment plant's requirements. The control room was modernized in 2005 to accommodate the procedural and automation-related conversions and new construction work.
Clean water - the top priority
Regular maintenance and repair work and activities are some of the success criteria for fault-free wastewater drainage and treatment to ensure the flawlessly efficient operation of sewage treatment plants, pumping stations and combined sewer relief basins.
Extensive construction work for the successive conversion of the process engineering to the process combination of biological phosphorous and nitrogen elimination was carried out as early as 1999-2000. This was followed by the gradual start-up of a sludge drainage and drying system and the expansion of the wastewater treatment lines up to a total of seven systems with biological phosphate elimination in combination with nitrification and denitrification. "We must be able to efficiently operate and control the systems equipped with the latest technologies in the treatment plant, which is why we have also reorganized the more than ten-year old control stations as the core of the plant. This was also made possible and beneficial by first migrating the operating and monitoring level, which, among other factors, resulted in changing from the big CRT displays to LCD monitors. Swapping out the monitors created new spatial conditions at the operator stations.
We could only create the framework that would meet the increased operating personnel requirements for operating and monitoring with a modernized control station," says Ms. Popp in illustrating some of the reasons behind the project.
The control station consists of three workstations altogether: two workstations for shift duty around the clock and one structuring station for engineer and maintenance activities. Furthermore, the smaller decentralized control console for the sludge draining and drying at the treatment plant was also upgraded. "The new workstations should be integrated into the rooms in a functional, space-saving and at the same time elegant way," Ms. Popp adds. The respective responsible people at the treatments plant knew they were in the best of hands with Knürr's experts. "Knürr applied know-how, flexibility and the right kind of price-performance ratio to get people's heads nodding," explains a clearly satisfied specialist planner.
When competence and quality become a passion
Every system that has to be monitored and operated makes specific demands on the workstation. "The control units of the fire alarm system or the paging system, for example, therefore had to be logically integrated into the workstations in a beneficial way," says Ms. Popp. Knürr designed and implemented project-specific concepts so that each workstation is equipped to meet the respective individual requirements. Viewing distance and viewing height can be specifically regulated with height-adjustable monitor levels. In addition to the electrically operated height-adjustable desks, the worktop shape of the desks and the desk pedestals in particular were individually produced for the treatment plant. "The spacious pedestals now provide plenty of space for the required technology and still ensure an ergonomically sufficient amount of leg space," is how Karin Popp describes the modern workstation systems. "In short, the result of the project was that the employees' work conditions have been optimized with the help of intelligent, technical furniture components in combination with the specialist competence of Knürr's experts," she says and goes on to add: "Undoubtedly one big plus point for Knürr is the fact that we don't have to arrange ourselves around the workstations, but rather, the fact is that the systems adapt accordingly to our individual requirements!"
The conversion of the control station and the swap-out of the control room furniture had to be carried out while operations kept running, which was only possible after the migration of the control and monitoring level with the new bus system and by temporarily laying bus cables. Made to measure installations that meet the highest requirements were produced with the incorporation of ergonomic factors and compliance with the corresponding standards and regulations. "It's not just the system technologies that develop further. The demands made on the workstation also change. With Knürr's system solutions we now have a partner that will provide us with a smooth and secure process flow in the future, not least of all on the basis of the modular structures of the components that Knürr provides," concludes a smiling Ms. Popp.
Knürr AG based in Arnstorf, Bavaria, was founded in 1931, and in February 2006 became part of Emerson Network Power, a division of the global technology leader, Emerson, which has an annual turnover of 20 billion dollars, 128,000 employees and 270 production sites around the world.
Knürr’s system solutions in the world of information and network technology and telecommunications soon established the company’s exceptional reputation as one of the leading developers and manufacturers of rack and enclosure platforms. These include systems for the indoor and outdoor area, all relevant active and passive components in the 19-inch construction area, and the thermal and cable management technologies this entails.
With standardized and customized developments, the company supports its customers with innovative technologies and comprehensive knowledge in the completion of its assignments.
For more information go to: www.knuerr.com
Emerson Network Power is an Emerson Group company (NYSE: EMR) and industry leader with its continuity solutions (Business-Critical Continuity™). The company is recognized as a reliable provider of flexible and dependable solutions that effectively protect the important components of the customer’s infrastructure. On the basis of the biggest global service organization in the industry, Emerson Network Power provides a wide range of innovative power supply, cooling and connection solutions. Added to this are services for the computer, communication, health care and industrial systems areas. Emerson Network Power’s most important product brand names include Liebert, ASCO, Astec and Lorain. You will find more information on Emerson Network Power’s products and corporate solutions at www.emerson.com
Emerson (NYSE: EMR) is based in St. Louis (USA), and as a leading technology and development specialist provides globally innovative customer solutions in the areas of network power supply, process management, industrial automation and thermal management, as well as the corresponding equipment and tools. In the 2006 fiscal year the company generated turnover of US $ 20.1 billion. For more information go to www.emerson.com