Water/wastewater technology for the cities of the future Festo process automation at Metropolitan Solutions

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1 Water/wastewater technology for the cities of the future Festo process automation at Metropolitan Solutions This year, Festo will be taking part for the first time in the Metropolitan Solutions exhibition in hall 26 (stand B23). This special event at the Hanover Trade Fair 2012 provides a platform for global providers of pneumatic and electrical automation technology to showcase energy-efficient and cost-optimised solutions for infrastructure in water and wastewater technology. Visitors to the exhibition will also be able to find out more about the Festo Bionic Learning Network. Press release Number CC/14/12_7 Date 23 April 2012 Our reference CC-T/DUJU According to the 2012 World Water Report, almost one billion people still have no access to clean drinking water. Both population and economic growth are driving demand for this scarce resource. Increasing urbanisation is also placing an extra burden on the drinking water supply and wastewater disposal infrastructure. Resource and energy efficiency in water and wastewater are central issues that we will have to tackle more actively in the future, says Dr. Eckhard Roos, Head of Process Automation at Festo. He adds: Water treatment plants account for a full 20 percent of the electrical energy used by local authorities in Germany. We need to reduce the cost of automating water treatment infrastructures while at the same time improving energy efficiency and promoting the use of robust technologies that can, for example, operate plants without any electrical energy at all. Another future challenge in water technology will be to reduce the operating costs over the life cycle of the plants and to increase the availability of the systems. Legal form: Limited partnership Registered office: Esslingen a. N. Register court Stuttgart COR Value added tax id. number: DE General partner: Festo Management Aktiengesellschaft Registered office: Vienna/Austria Commercial register court: Commercial court Vienna COR FN d Board of Director: Dipl.-Kfm. Alfred Goll Dr. Claus Jessen Dr. Ansgar Kriwet Dipl.-Kfm. Michael Mölleken Dr. Eberhard Veit (Chairman) Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joachim Milberg Festo AG & Co. KG As well as exhibiting new products at the Metropolitan Solutions special event, Festo will above all be showcasing complete solutions and application examples with efficient control concepts for automating water treatment plants. A current reference project in Germany will illustrate how solar energy is ideal for automating water technology infrastructure. P. O. Box Esslingen Phone duju@de.festo.com Ruiter Straße Esslingen

2 Energy self-sufficient automation in water management Alexander Riek, who is heading up the project "Energy self-sufficient automation of decentralised water reservoirs in water management, shows how solutions from process automation can be turned into sustainable solutions for cities and local authorities. The automation solution used in the plant is based on regenerative energy in the form of solar energy and ensures that the maximum outflow from the rainwater overflow basins to the associated wastewater treatment plant is not exceeded. Using a GSM modem, the entire system can be controlled and monitored from the remote control centre for the wastewater treatment plant. The advantages of this energy self-sufficient pneumatic solution are clear: the system allows fully automated operation even in areas where there is no normal power supply. This saves the operator time and money because the slides can be actuated from a central location when necessary. The investment costs for connecting the plant to the public energy supply network can also be saved. With this automation concept, Festo is demonstrating an innovative, energy-efficient solution for decentralised applications in process automation. A concept like this can also be used in cities around the world. In other parts of the world, rainwater retention basins are often located in areas where there is no regular power supply. This means that the slide valves for releasing the dammed water usually have to be manually opened and closed, which causes delays and requires a lot of personnel. In the megacities of the future we ll see applications for energy self-sufficient, decentralised automation solution not only used for drain water in rainwater basins, but also for drinking water, for example for managing pressure in drinking water systems, stresses Alexander Riek. DMAG s flagship project water treatment in Egypt In this exhibition area, Festo will be presenting an automation solution it created for multiple drinking water treatment plants in Egypt. An integrated automation solution had to be designed to control the fixed-bed filters needed to remove turbidity from the untreated water taken from the Nile while also taking into account the local conditions.

3 The process technology had to be decentralised, modular and flexible, as well as combining pneumatic and electrical components. Festo s solution for automating drinking water abstraction in several waterworks throughout the sprawling city of Cairo saves both water and energy. AquaJellies greater efficiency through autonomy The AquaJellies from Festo are artificial, autonomous jellyfish with an electrical drive and an intelligent, adaptive mechanical system that enables collective behaviour. Each jellyfish decides for itself what action it will perform based on its condition (e.g. charging state, position of the drive) as well as on its proximity to other jellyfish. This self-organisation can be found in wastewater technology, where it is used in selforganised feeding of collected rainwater from several decentralised rainwater overflow basins into one central water treatment plant. Condition monitoring enables efficient operational management, service and maintenance. The main Festo stand can be found in hall 15, stand D07. Further information can be found at: Full article with pictures: Contact for questions: Festo AG & Co. KG Simone Schmid, Technical Corporate Communication Mobile: ++49 (0) Fax: ++49 (0) 711 / smns@de.festo.com

4 Lectures on the topic: Monday, p.m. Efficiency Arena (hall 14, stand K09): Dr. Eckhard Roos on the topic: Optimising energy efficiency and life cycle costs in water management - application examples and methods of comparing life cycle costs for alternative technologies Tuesday, p.m. Metropolitan Solutions Forum (hall 26): Dr. Eckhard Roos on the topic: Automating water treatment plants under special constraints - application example and advantages for operators and plant constructors in areas with inadequate electrical infrastructure Friday, p.m. Metropolitan Solutions Forum (hall 26): Alexander Riek on the topic: Energy self-sufficient automation of decentralised water reservoirs in water management - comparison of alternative concepts for real-life applications in wastewater treatment

5 Related materials: Festo press image CC_14_12_PA_1.tif Related materials: Festo has innovative, energy-efficient solutions for the cities of the future Festo press image CC_14_12_PA_2.tif Related materials: Energy self-sufficient automation of decentralised water reservoirs in water management Festo press image CC_14_12_AquaJellies_1.tif AquaJellies - artificial, autonomous jellyfish with an electric drive and an intelligent, adaptive mechanical system that enables collective behaviour