Improvement to the digestion process for one of the largest inland sewage treatment works in the UK

HUBER Technology recently completed a project at one of the largest inland sewage treatment works in the UK, Minworth STW.

Minworth serves a population equivalent of 1.75 million from Birmingham with full flow to treatment of 1,070Ml/d. The works treats sludge arising from a population equivalent of 2.3 million which is made up of indigenous sludge plus imported sludge from the nearby Coleshill STW and various works in Staffordshire and north Warickshire. Good early engagement from all the concerned parties helped enormously to discuss all the possibilities and deliver a good solution.

Project Profile

This project was part of the installation of the Cambi THP Plant at Minworth, Severn Trent Water’s largest sewage treatment works, as part of the improvement to their digestion process to further enhance renewable energy production from biogas. A solution needed to be found as the Cambi Plant required screening sludge to 6mm in 2 directions. Early involvement and the use of Collaboration software 360 BIM was used by all parties, which helped to manage the design side of the project.

 HUBER Technology Supplied

• 6 x HUBER Sludgecleaner STRAINPRESS®290
   
• 6 x HUBER Control Panels

Objective

The primary sludge at Minworth is collected from the individual primary tanks and pumped into two buffer tanks, the sludge is then fed through STRAINPRESS® units to protect the downstream CAMBI process from screenings and other solids. The STRAINPRESS® screen prevents solids greater than 5mm two directions passing into the downstream flow before compacting them and dropping them into the skips located underneath the gantry.

Solution

The contractor wanted to capture lessons learnt from previous THP installations so a visit to Cardiff STW was set up so that they could see a similar HUBER packaged project with STRAINPRESS® mounted on gantry operating. Benefits could then be seen using this pre fabricated off site package plant solution, where all the in house electric testing and some of the dry commissioning can be undertaken. This all leads to a much shorter and safer installation time on site.

Product Profile

HUBER Sludgecleaner STRAINPRESS® – Sludge Screening to remove solids and rags from imported municipal sludge prior to thickening or dewatering. Benefits include high solids removal, low energy consumption, 366 UK reference sites, simple robust design and fully automated operation.

“The high profile nature of the project meant that it was imperative we engaged early and effectively so that a suitable innovative solution could be agreed.”
Richard Willis-Area Manager

“The DfMA solution worked extremely well and the attention to H&S, quality and detail was excellent. Severn Trent Water were very happy with the access provided and ease of maintenance of the product. With the 6 x STRAINPRESS® designed and manufactured off site, the installation on site was quick and easy, just like a lego set.”
Richard Thomson-MWH