CSO Technik has been awarded an order for the first UK Crown disintegration system for South West Water’s Countess Wear site. Installation is expected to start in the spring of 2009 and is destined to provide increased biogas for utilisation in the existing CHP plant.
The Crown system was first introduced in Germany in 2001 and there are now 21 operational plants throughout Europe and a further plant at Rosedale Waste water plant in North Shore, New Zealand. CSO Technik were also responsible for the sale, project management and commissioning of the Rosedale plant, which has been in operation since 2006. The plant has consistently provided increased biogas production in line or in excess of the 23% performance target. The system has proved to be very reliable with very low operational costs.
The Biogest Crown system is a low pressure mechanical disintegration system that is extremely robust, utilising equipment that is tried and tested in sewage sludge related applications. The system operates by taking surplus activated sludge at anywhere between 3%–7% dry solids and, after maceration, is pressurised to 12 bar, then mixed at high speed before it is passed through a small nozzle. As the sludge exits the nozzle the rapid deceleration causes the cell walls to cavitate, releasing exo and endo enzymes. Once fed into the digester the increased availability of microbes leads to improved VS destruction, which in turn leads to a reduction in solids from the digester and improved Biogas production. Further benefits of the system have also been identified by operators of the existing systems; these include the elimination of foaming and the improved de-waterability of the sludge, normally by 3%-5% points.
CSO Technik also has the distribution rights for the Crown system in North America, UK, Ireland, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. CSO Technik recently reached an agreement with Siemens Water technologies, based in Waukesha, Wisconsin, who will now market and supply the product throughout the USA, Canada and Mexico.
