RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Research work in the Separation Technologies Division continued to concentrate on the optimization of the centrifuge product range in order to further enhance performance and/or reduce manufacturing costs. Another focus area was the standardization of the filter press product family in order to shorten delivery times and reduce costs.
Driven by increasingly stringent requirements for highly efficient odor control systems, further efforts and tests have been conducted to minimize odor and TOC (Total Organic Carbon) compounds in the offgas from sludge drying plants. Especially for sewage sludge with its unpredictable range of odorous substances, extensive R&D work is done to develop a reliable and ecological odor control system that – unlike thermal oxidizers – does not consume further primary energy and cause additional pollution by CO2.
Based on the strong market demand for biomass drying, the development of a large-scale belt dryer for biomass with an evaporation capacity of up to 16 t/h has been started with the target to achieve utmost energy efficiency by heat recovery from drying gases. This dryer will operate with nearly closed drying air loops and also recover the energy from the minimized dryer offgas stream. It will be able to run on waste heat or offgas from other processes as well as from combined heat and power plants (CHPs).
Also with respect to biomass drying, intensive pilot tests were carried out with a pilot-scale drying plant to obtain design and feasibility data for belt drying on various biomass materials such as sawdust for pellet mills, spent grain from breweries, rejects, sugar cane bagasse, and bark from the pulp and paper industry.