Innovative Measurement and Control Technology
06/09/2013 Siemens Industry Automation & Drive Technologies
Frankfurt, Germany. Some 1.5 million cubic meters of waste water are treated every year at Frankfurt Airport. Since last year, airport operator Fraport has been using an emulsion separating plant in its special-purpose and service vehicle washing system which has improved operational reliability and adherence to limit values as well as driving down costs. Instead of visiting regularly every one or two weeks, the disposal vehicle now only needs to come once in three months.The innovative measurement and control technology used in the treatment plant installed by Swiss supplier Aquasant was provided by the Siemens Industry Automation Division.
A member of the Fraport workforce covers a good 50 kilometers every day checking the water supply and treatment plants installed at Frankfurt/Main's busy airport, carrying out round-the-clock surveillance to ensure that stipulated purification standards are adhered to and systems are running smoothly. The plants in question include three light fluid separators serving the bodywork and vehicle workshops and the special-purpose and service vehicle washing stations. These separators are used to treat waste water contaminated with oil and gasoline - also referred to as light fluids. Depending on the throughput of waste water, a disposal vehicle used to arrive once or twice a month to extract the residual fluids and refill the system with fresh water.
The new emulsion separating plant used to treat the waste water directly at source saves Fraport both time and money. This is done by collecting and separating all oil and water mixes,old oil, binding agents containing oil, brake fluids and cold cleaning agents, and guiding them to a 20,000 liter collecting tank, where they undergo a number of cleaning steps. The result determines whether the water requires a repeated cleaning and further treatment process, or can be released into the central sewage system.
The Simatic WinCC flexible operator control and monitoring system from the Siemens Industry Automation Division controls the plant, ensuring the efficient use of operating equipment by logging all data from the measuring devices and continuously adjusting the process to the current level of water contamination. A 19 inch touchscreen panel allows the Fraport team to keep a continuous eye on the process. Depending on their user rights,team members are able to set parameters or switch the system to manual if servicing work is required.
WinCC flexible logs and archives not only alarms, operating messages and process data, but also compliance with the German waste water treatment standard ATV H260. This simplifies the process of ATVcompliant reporting and the maintenance of a daily operating log. Additional logs indicate trends and the current power consumption of the pumps. Certified Siemens Solution Partner Aquasant, which worked together with Fraport to develop and implement the emulsion separating plant, uses a model to link directly into the plant from its office,to carry out remote analyses, give instructions to technical staff on site or to set new target values if required. "A key criterion in our decision to use process analytical systems, drives and controls from Siemens was their outstanding reliability, and also our experience with the devices used in other projects for the pre-purification of waste water", says Project Leader and Aquasant CEO Roman John.
In the one and a half years since its installation, the system has already treated over four million liters of waste water - the equivalent of around 80 liters every minute. "Since eliminating the need for two-weekly maintenance and disposal of the gasoline separator waste products, we have made noticeable savings in terms of time and costs", says Michael Starke, in charge of separation technology maintenance at Fraport. "The plant runs smoothly and achieves higher capacity, while waste water values have been significantly improved.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Peter Jefimiec
peter.jefimiec@siemens.com
Siemens AG
Corporate Communications and Government Affairs
Wittelsbacherplatz 2, 80333 Munich
Germany
Tel: +49 (911) 895-7975
Fax: +49 (911) 895-15-7975
www.siemens.com
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