The Institution of Chemical Engineers has awarded Arup the 2009 Innovation and Excellence Award in Water Management and Supply for its work on the Yorkshire Water wastewater treatment energy research. The award recognises innovation in water use, clean up and re-use, with a particular emphasis on preserving commercial viability and reducing environmental impact.
The award was presented before an audience of 320 representatives from industry leading firms such as Sellafield, British Petroleum, NES, ABB, National Nuclear Laboratory, Cogent, Birmingham University and Glaxo Smith Kline.
In mid-2008 the energy research project was initiated by Arup in conjunction with Yorkshire Water to investigate energy use and to identify ways to reduce the operational costs of wastewater treatment. This was achieved through the collaborative development and use of dynamic computer modelling and process control strategies.
The Arup Process Engineering Group in Leeds, led the development of a computer model to replicate the physical, chemical and biological properties of treatment processes. Using this model, it was possible to predict the performance of a wastewater treatment system under a range of different energy saving scenarios. This approach allowed for rapid testing of a large number of energy saving strategies under a range of conditions. The approach also allows the work to be replicated at other wastewater sites and applied to other high rate wastewater treatment systems such as membrane bio-reactors, maximising Yorkshire Water’s return on investment.
Both environmental and business benefits of the project are clear. The business case is that substantial operational savings are now possible without compliance risk and environmental consequence. “We were able to identify savings of 13% of total process power usage for the (which) wastewater treatment plant. When applying these savings to other plants that employ the same treatment technology the potential annual savings are in excess of £1.2M” explains Arup Project Director, Vincent Glancy.
Better still, conservative estimates don’t factor in the savings initiated by bringing site operation to a standard energy baseline, which if managed effectively could produce annual savings in excess of £2M across a range of sites.
From a carbon footprint perspective, it is estimated that over 16,500 tonnes of CO2 will be saved each year once the activated sludge process strategy is integrated across the large Yorkshire Water activated sludge treatment schemes. If rolled out to all similar treatment sites across the UK the strategies have the potential to liberate savings of over £14.8M and 203,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.
“The results of this research challenged conventional thinking about where savings would be realised, and allowed a variety of different ideas to be tested with minimal impact on operations, the environment and Yorkshire Water’s bottom line” explains Arup Project Manager, Mark Knowles. “Yorkshire Water is left with an immediate reduction in operational costs, and we hope the implementation of these strategies will also begin to change the culture present in the operation of many wastewater treatment works.”
In early 2009 Yorkshire Water also recognised the impact of the study, awarding Arup a Partner 2008/2009 award under the innovation category. Arup is the first consultant to have won this award.