Pontetetto sewage treatment plant process optimization project

This project was carried out as part of the Life LAIKA project (www.life-laika.eu) and concerns credits produced for the purpose of a simulation and not actual purchasable credits. Since 2009, G.E.A.L. S.p.A. (Gestione Esercizio Acquedotti Lucchesi), a company of the Lucca Holding S.p.A. group, which is responsible for the maintenance and design of the aqueduct, sewerage and purification networks and plants in the municipality of Lucca, has initiated a modernization process of the Pontetetto purification plant. This modernization process has improved the automation of the plant through numerous technological solutions, such as: the replacement of the nozzles that allowed the heating of the staff service rooms with self-produced biogas instead of LPG; the use of inverter systems on the motors used in the main treatments to modulate flow rates and pollutant loads, reduce maintenance costs and inrush current, rephase the load and achieve greater flexibility in the use of the machine, optimize electrical consumption (wastewater lifting, sludge recirculation, aerated mixture, oxygen supply, power generation, etc. ); the remote control and remote control of the entire plant including the lifting stations serving the sewage network; and the installation of an innovative purification plant with oil-free turbine cogeneration technology. With this modernization project, the company estimates that it can reduce both the consumption of electricity drawn from the Enel grid and the consumption of heating oil and LPG.