HUBER Technology Inc. wins its largest belt dryer project in the USA to date in a public participation competition

After the success story of thermal sewage sludge drying in the USA began with the Mooresville, North Carolina project in 2011 with a total investment volume of approx. 3.8 million US dollars, HUBER Technology Inc., the US subsidiary of HUBER, has now successfully won its largest dryer project to date with two HUBER Belt Dryers BT 30 and an investment volume of approx. 16.35 million USD. The delivery of the two ordered HUBER Belt Dryers of the largest size BT 30 is scheduled for June 2024. Commissioning of the dryers is planned for spring 2025 according to the customer.

4,000 cubic metres per hour

The wastewater plant in Timpanogos, Utah receives the wastewater of more than 240,000 residents from 70,000 private, commercial and institutional wastewater connections. As part of the project, the plant with a total capacity of approx. 25 MGD (average 4,000 m³/h) will also be converted to anaerobic digestion before the HUBER belt dryers are installed.

Work on the project started in June 2022. By this time, HUBER Technology Inc. had tested and analysed the first sludge samples from the existing plant in its own laboratory in consultation with the end customer. The process engineering layout of the thermal dryers is based on the current real sludge parameters of the plant, as the anaerobic digestion system has not yet been built and does not yet exist.

Design data of the dryers:

• Solids content: > 14% DR
• Loss on ignition: 82.5%

Dryer capacity:

• Hot water supply: 284 °F (140°C), from natural gas-fuelled boiler
• Solids load: 208.1 tonnes OS/day
• Water evaporation: approx. 7,300 kg water/h

USA Second largest market for belt dryers worldwide

The belt dryer market is a growth market not only globally, but also for HUBER Technology Inc. In 2022, the HUBER subsidiary was awarded the contract for two further belt dryer projects in addition to the Timpanogos project and was commissioned to supply and implement them. For the HUBER Group, the USA has now become the second largest belt dryer market in the world. It is worth mentioning that one of these orders involves the production of the first belt dryer in the USA, thus fulfilling state and federal funding requirements. Another important step in expanding the market share in the USA.

Nine projects with eleven dryer lines

There are a total of nine different projects with eleven dryer lines, from the BT 10 to the largest available size, the BT 30. The installations are spread across various states: North Carolina, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arkansas, Utah and Pennsylvania.

The water evaporation rates range from 900 kg/h to almost 4,100 kg/h, depending on the dryer size and the actual drying temperature, which varies between 194°F and 284°F (90°C to 140°C).