EfficiencyBeyondtheBlower

Author:

ChrisLivingston
WesternUnitedStatesSalesMunicipalSales
HSI,Inc.

clivingston@hsiblowers.com

KEYWORDS:ProcessControl,Blowers,MOV,PressureControl,EnergyUsage

TheProblem:
Blowertechnologieshaveincreasinglyadvancedoverthelastdecadebutarehamstrungbytheinefficientor
absenceofprocesscontrolsystems.

GoalsandObjectives:

Providebriefscopeofblowertechnologiesandadvancementsinefficiency

Demonstratehowcontrolofblowerandsystemequalstheturnkeysolutionplantsrequire

IllustratethekeybenefitsofaFlowControlsystemutilizingMostlyOpenValveversustraditionalcontrol
systems

IntroductiontoBlowerTechnologies:
Airblowersrepresentasignificantpercentageofawastewatertreatmentplants(WWTP)powerconsumption.
Thiscanadduptomillionsofdollarsoverseveraldecadesinelectricalcostsalone.Whileselectingamore
efficientblowerwillhelpalleviatemuchofthiscost,therearefactorsbeyondtheblowerwhichdiscouragepeak
efficiencyofsystemoperation.Moreso,whatisadvantageousaboutofspendingadditionalcapitalonanefficient
bloweriftheyarenotcontrolledefficiently?
First,however,oneneedstoconsiderthefourmajorblowertechnologieswithinthewaterandwastewater
markets:

internallygearedsinglestage

positivedisplacement
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multistagecentrifugal

gearlesssinglestage,orturbo

Eachoftechnologyisabletoprovideaformofsolutiontowaterandwastewaterapplicationsthroughtheir
standardON/OFFfunction.Further,eachembraceperformancestrengthsuniquetothetechnologypositively
affectingefficiency,turndown,flowcapability,etc.However,thesestrengthsareoftenlimitedbytheirabsenceof
smartblowerandprocesscontrol.
LocalandProcessControl
ManyofthefactorswithinaWWTPwhichhinderablowersystemsefficiencydosowiththeabsenceofcontrol.
Controlisthesolutiontooptimizingaplantsaerationprocess.Therearetwoformsofcontroltoconsider;local
blowercontrol,andprocesscontrol.
Locally,alltechnologieslistedabovecomewiththemostbasiccontroltoprovideprotectiononly.Thisisachieved
inavarietyofmannersdependingonthetechnologybutallaimforthesamepurposeofprotectingtheblower.
Forthisreason,blowerswiththismostbasicformofcontrolonlyprovidetwobenefitstoplantoperators;apreset
airflowandprotection.
Processcontrolreferstotheentireaerationprocess,fromblowermotortoactuatedvalvebeforebasin,allof
whichiscontrolledviaaMasterControlPanel(MCP).Plantsutilizingprocesscontrolgainrealtimetrendingand
responsetovaryingsiteconditionsandrequirements,operatingmoreefficientlyandsavingenergy.
FactorsAffectingEfficiency
Thevastmajorityofblowersinthewaterandwastewatermarketshavelittletonoprocesscontrolandverybasic
localcontrol.
Forexample,mostofthemultistagecentrifugalblowersinoperationaremanuallycontrolledviaaninletbutterfly
valve.Sincethemotorisoperatingatconstantspeed,thevalvemustbeclosedacertainpercentageinordertohit
theapplicationsdesignpoint.Thisisknownasinletthrottling,orchokingablower.Astronganalogyforthistype
ofcontrolwouldbetooperateavehiclewithonefootfullypressingthegaspedalandusingthebraketovarythe
speedofthecar.Throttlingablowergreatlylowerstheefficiencyofthesystemasthebloweristhrottledto
achieveitsdesiredflowandpressure.
Asimpleandcosteffectivesolutionistooutfitthemultistageblowerwithavariablefrequencydrive(VFD)and
upgradedcontrolpanel.Thecontrolpaneldictatesahigherorlowerairvolumerequirementandcalculatesthe
necessaryspeedwhichisthensendtotheVFD.TheVFDthensendsahertzsignaltothemotoreitherincreasing
ordecreasingtheRPM.Insteadofthrottlingtheinlettheblowerisnowcontrolledbyspeed,operatingatless

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horsepowertoachievethesamedesignpoint.Figure1belowillustratesthepowerdrawdifferencebetweena
throttledmultistageandVFDdrivenmultistage:

Figure1:ComparisonofVFD&ThrottledMultistageBlowersAcrossSummer,Average,andWinterConditions

Likewise,highspeedturboblowersarebuiltontheprincipleofspeedcontrolandthusincludeVFDswithintheir
package.Controloverturboblowers,orotherVFDcontrolledblower,iseasilyaccomplishedthroughtheunits
HumanMachineInterface(HMI).Plantpersonnelhavecompletecontrolovertheturboandareabletoadjustthe
dischargeflowoftheblowertosuittheirprocessesairrequirements.AmultistagecentrifugalwithVFDis
operatedinthesamemanner.Asaresult,aplantwithVFDcontrolledblowershastakenthenecessaryfirststep
towardsoptimalaerationsystemefficiency.
However,bothaVFDcontrolledmultistageandahighspeedturboarenotutilizedtotheirpotentialiftheyare
manuallycontrolledbyplantoperators/personnel.UnlessDissolvedOxygen(DO)and/orotherprocessvariables
areconstantlyassessedinrealtime,theblowerwillmostlikelybeprovidinganincorrectamountofaireithertoo
muchortoolittle.Withambienttemperatureandpressureconstantlyinfluxthroughouttheday,theDO
requirements,forexample,changeaswell.
MaintainingahighDOlevelnotonlywastesenergybutdisruptsthebiologicalequilibriumwithinthesludgeand
aerationtanksaswell.Conversely,toolowaDOleveldoessaveenergy,however,biologicalproblemswillalso
ariseandthesystemwillhavetoplaycatchup.Thesolutiontotheseproblemsisanautomatedapproachbased
offkeymeasurementssuchasDO,flow,andpressurethroughoutthesystem.Thisisanautomatedprocessknown
asprocesscontrol.
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Solution:ProcessControl
ProcessControlreferstothemosteffectiveapproachusedinmanagingaerationsystemswithinwastewater
treatmentplants.ItisanautomatedsysteminwhicheachblowercommunicatesdirectlytooneMasterControl
Panel(MCP).TheMCPreceivessignalsfromseveralprocesscontrolvariableswithinthesystemandsequencesthe
blowerstomostefficientlyachievethedesignpointwhichithasbeenprogrammedfor.Theseprocessvariables
mayincludeDOorOxygenReductionPotential(ORP)withinthebasinsthatarecommunicatedtoeachprocesss
respectivecontrolpanel.TheMCPalsoreceivesfeedbackfromtemperaturesensors,pressuresensors,andflow
meters.BasedonthefeedbacktheMCPreceives,theMCPwilldirectboththeblowersandactuatedvalvesto
providethespecificvolumeofairrequiredtomaintaintheprocess.Figure2belowillustratesanexampleofwhat
thissystemmaylooklike:
Figure2:ProcessControlwithMasterControlPanel

Furthermore,utilizingaMCPallowsforthemostefficientsequencingoftheblowers.Forexample,iftheprocess
dictatesasubstantialdecreaseinairvolume,theMCPisabletosequencetheblowerstooperateattheirmost
efficientpoint.Forathreeblowersystem,thiscouldbetwoleadblowersoperatingatpeakefficiencyandthe
thirdbloweractingasthetrim.Thealternativewouldhaveallthreeblowersoperatingatequalflowsbutless
efficientpoints.
TypesofProcessControl
TherearetwomethodsofprocesscontrolthatcanbeachievedwithinasimilarsystemtoFigure2;FlowControl
utilizingMostlyOpenValve(MOV)andPressureControl.Thepressurecontrolmethoddictatesthattheblowers
responsibilityistomaintainacertainpressurewithinthesystem.However,doingsoartificiallyincreasessystem
pressurewhichequatestohigherenergyusage.Inotherwords,thismethodswisdomwillallowforablowerto
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speeduptosatisfyapressuresetpointregardlessifDOissatisfied.Inaddition,theblowersoperateoffaclosed
controlloopseparatefromtheDO,whichhasitsowncontrolloopwithamodulatedvalve.Controllingblowersvia
apressuresetpointisbothunnecessaryandinefficient.
FlowControlwithMOVutilizesasinglecontrolloopwheretheblowersarededicateddirectlytosatisfyDO.
Blowersandbasinsalikeareoperatedonmassflowmeasuredbymassflowmetersand/oramassflowcalculation.
BasinvalvecontroloperatesofftheMOVprinciple,meaningthatthebasinwiththehighestpressurelossor
greatestdemandforairwillhavetheirmodulatedflowcontrolvalvecompletelyopen.Anysubsequentcontrol
valvemodulatesasneededtoachievetherequiredmassflowwithineachbasin.
TheuseofFlowControlallowsthesystemtoignorepressure,therebyequatingtoalowersystempressurewhich
resultsinenergysavingswithadropofupto.5to1psiglessheadpressurewhilestabilizingtheDOsystemfaster
thanpressurecontrol.Finally,itwouldappearthebestargumentforflowcontrolisthatitallowstheprocess
controlvariable,notaprecalculatedpressuresetpoint,todirecttheflowoutputofthebloweritself,matching
thedeltaDOwithaspecificflowdemand.Insum,flowcontrolrequiresyoutomeetthedemandoftheprocess
wherePressureControlrequiresyoutomeetanarbitrarysetpointmostoftenexceedingwhatthesystem
requires.
CaseStudies
Lompoc,CAProcessControlwithHighSpeedTurbos
FountainHills,AZMultistageCentrifugalswithVFDs
Conclusion
Processcontrolisessentialtoanyenduserseekingthemostefficientoperationoutoftheiraerationblower
system.Withoutprocesscontrol,plantoperatorsruntheriskofexpendingtoomuchenergyinoveraeration,or
providingtoolittleoxygentothebiologicalprocessestakingplace.WithouttheMCP,guessworktakesplaceand
humanerrorsetsin.Processcontrolnotonlysimplifiestheaerationoperationofplants,butcanpotentiallysave
municipalitiesthousandsofdollarsinunnecessaryenergyusage.ThebestmethodforprocesscontrolisaFlow
Controlsystemwhichutilizesthemostlyopenvalvetheory.FlowcontrolwithMOVhasshowntodecreasesystem
pressureandthereforerequiredenergyconsumption.Thus,itprovesvaluabletofocusontheoverallefficiencyof
theaerationsystemwhendesigningsuchaproject.WhileaplantsnewHighSpeedTurboBlowermayoperate
efficiently,theefficiencypotentialofthesystemisthwartedbythelackofsmartprocesscontrolwithinthe
aerationsystem.Indeed,efficiencydoesmatterbeyondtheblower.

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