1. technology and computing

pointer
Magazine specialising in metrology published by Measurepolis Development Ltd 01/2015
theme issue: water
Mr. Jussi Mäkinen, CEO
The Times They Are a-Changin’...
…sang Bob Dylan in 1964 – and this certainly has happened ever since!
The change has been faster and faster every year,
and nowadays it affects both our business and
personal life.
from Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden
and U.K. But getting funded by EU is not an easy
task!
At Measurepolis Development Plc, in our work
concentrating on developing the measurement and
monitoring technology and business areas, we have
seen the change continuously. Looking at the bright
side, the technological development offers us new
opportunities to help our customers and partners
gaining new market areas. On the other hand, we
need to run faster to even keep ourselves a little bit
ahead of the status quo.
With globally growing need for energy, new
ecological forms of energy production comprise not
only sun and wind power, but also the bioeconomy.
By further refining sustainable annual forest growth
in our region, to produce for instance biofuel, it
would be possible to increase our country’s energy
self-sufficiency and reach several EU environmental
targets more easily than before.
The recent financial crisis has shaken our businesses
as well as the global economy, too. This has forced
us to set our focus more clearly on the international
cooperation, according to the company strategy set
by the Board of Directors.
One successful example in this respect is ITEA 2
project Water-M, where our role is to act as the
Country Coordinator of Finland. Our partners are
from Finland, France, Turkey and Romania. Mrs. Outi
Laatikainen describes this project better in her article
in page 6-7.
Through our several trips to Brussels we have widened
our international network of both research institutes
and companies working in the same fields of interest.
We have been preparing quite many project
applications, mainly for Horizon 2020, the biggest
EU Research and Innovation programme ever. Among
others, we have been working together with partners
MEASUREPOLIS DEVELOPMENT LTD
CEO Jussi Mäkinen
gsm +358 400 995 466
[email protected]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------VP Outi Laatikainen
gsm +358 44 7101 662
[email protected]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------CTO Jouni Tornberg
gsm +358 40 5550 756
[email protected]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------communications manager Marko Lipponen
gsm +358 44 7100 102
[email protected]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wastewater sludge or sewage sludge has become
an increasing challenge all over the world. Even
though the technology for producing energy and
fertilizers from sludge is well known today, making
this profitable business needs new innovations, and
we are willing and capable to cooperate in developing
those ones. With our domestic and international
partners we are for instance aiming at combining
municipal, agricultural and industrial waste and
turning them into new, environmentally friendly
products, and thus also promoting the Finnish
companies’ success worldwide.
These sustainable products will provide environmental,
social and economic benefits while protecting and
over their whole life cycle, from the extraction of
until the final disposal. Because the environmental
monitoring has a growing demand, this offers us
new needs for RDI projects and potential for business
applications.
Kehräämöntie 7 | 87400 Kajaani | Suomi, Finland
www.measurepolis.fi | [email protected]
secretary Irma Oikarinen
gsm +358 44 7500 778
[email protected]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------technology expert Merja Rautiainen
gsm +358 40 8333 783
[email protected]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------technology expert Petri Österberg
gsm +358 44 7500 779
[email protected]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WssTP working group on Emerging Compounds works on European
agenda 4-5
WATER-M – Paving the way for unified intelligent water
management 6-7
Water balance analysis reliability and the use of its
results in mine water management 8-9
Online metal analyzer developed in CEMIS-OULU 10
Evolution energie 11
Qualitative and quantitative water management measurement
data on the map quickly for more effective use 12-13
On-line measurement with laboratory accuracy 14-15
Wastewater sludge analysis with an on-line optical monitoring
device (MOFI) 16-18
Solution to remove soluble metals from process waters and
effluents 19
Finnish Water Forum - Your link to international
projects and collaboration 20-21
Magazine specialising in metrology
published by Measurepolis Development Ltd
ISSN 1797-1578
Editor in chief & Layout: Marko Lipponen
Translate: www.kainuunkielikeskus.fi
Circulation: 1000
Print: Painotalo Seiska, Iisalmi
since 2004
Marko Lipponen
Measurepolis Development Oy’s POINTER magazine is
a specialist publication that has appeared since 2004, its
main target group being Measurepolis’ customers and
stakeholders. POINTER is a specialist magazine that offers
versatile, unbiased and up-to-date information about
metrology nationally.
POINTER has a significant role in Measurepolis’
communication in that it reveals wider customer bases.
It not only enables us to provide our readers with a
comprehensive, concrete selection of current issues in the
field, but also the company’s operations, expertise and
solutions. More detailed information about our operation
is also available from our website www.measurepolis.fi.
Pointer wants to be part of change and as a result of a
readers’ survey the magazine has gained new content,
e.g. articles written by experts. These articles are supplied
by companies and therefore real experts are responsible
for their content. In this issue we will focus on smart water
management and related measurements.
WssTP
working group on Emerging
Compounds works on European agenda
Emerging compounds comprise a wide range of new
anthropogenic chemical substances in the aquatic
environment, including pharmaceuticals, biocides,
industrial products, micro plastics, nano-particles
and ingredients of personal care products (PPCP).
The number of substances is increasinges every day,
emerging compounds are more often detected in
the environment and may threaten water quality and
living organisms. This leads to a public and scientific
concern about the risks of these new chemicals
entering the environment. There are 2 main
approaches to address emerging pollutants in water:
•
‘End-of-pipe approach’ in which substances
that have entered the water cycle are removed with
the help of different technological solutions.
•
‘Upstream approach’ in which preventive
measures are taken to avoid dangerous substances
entering the water cycle.
The upstream approach has been proven to be much
more environmentally friendly and requiring lesser
investment costs.
There is strong need for science- based innovative
technologies and strategies to tackle the problem
of emerging compounds.
Research and innovation is on-going, but fragmented:
FP7 projects, the JPI-water water quality call on
emerging compounds in 2013, and National
4
programs. Because of the public and scientific concern
and the large number of fragmented activities,
WssTP started a working group that tries to keep an
overview of ongoing activities in Europe and extracts
the new topics out of the large amount of
information.
The aims of the working group are:
•
To exchange information between scientists,
practitioners, policy makers, SMEs and industries
and NGO’s on scientific and technological
developments in helping to tackle the challenges of
emerging compounds
•
To provide an comprehensive overview of
past and on-going R&D activities in the area of
emerging compounds and deduce knowledge gaps
to be addressed by future activities on the European
level
•
To develop a research and innovation agenda
and to provide input in national and European
research and innovation programmes (including JPIwater, Horizon2020).
•
To support upcoming policy and regulation
efforts by the EU and/or Member States by
underpinning the process with reliable scientific
proof.
•
To facilitate joint research and innovation
activities through linking national projects and
collaborating in international consortia.
“
The WG on Emerging Compounds will focus its
activities on emerging chemical substances in the
urban water cycle, aquatic environment and ground
water resources. Topics that will be addressed within
the WG are: identification, emissions and monitoring
of emerging compounds, methods for treatment
and removal, fate and transport in the aquatic
environment and urban water cycle, impacts on
ecosystems and human health, modelling and
information systems, policy strategies for control
and mitigation, social aspects related to PPCPs. The
WG will identify the knowledge gaps for the different
topics, discuss the level of priority with stakeholders
and will formulate recommendations for future
research.
The WG will facilitate collaborative research between
the WG partners:
•
through existing national research projects:
submitting proposals for COST Actions on specific
topics (funding of meetings)
•
within the framework of JPI-water:
submitting proposals for specific calls on emerging
compounds (national funding), led by the WG
members that can receive funding
•
within the framework of research and
innovation via HORIZON2020 work programmes:
submitting proposals for specific calls on emerging
compounds (EU funding)
Next activity of the working group is to present an
update of current activities on emerging compounds
in European countries. Furthermore, the WG aims
to organise workshops twice a year on specific topics.
WssTP is the European Technology
Platform for Water and currently counts
130 members. WssTP is unique at the
European level as it membership
represents the full diversity of the water
value chain including industry, research,
utilities, technology providers, and water
users. WssTP also closely collaborates
with European Technology Platforms for
other industrial sectors as water is an
important component of the production
value chains in a number of waterdependent industries (such as textile,
chemical, food production, mining, etc).
Through its Member States Mirror Group
and its collaboration with the European
Regions Research and Innovation Network
(ERRIN) WssTP also reaches out to national
and regional authorities. WssTP represents
a key mechanism to increase coordination
and collaboration on research, technology
development and innovation with regard
to water, increase the competitiveness of
the European in the water sectors and
allied fields, and contribute to solving
Europe’s water-related societal challenges.
The WssTP WG structure is essential to
the WssTP strategy and for achieving its
objectives.
And last but not least, the WG contributes to the
WssTP vision on the European water sector and gives
input to the European research agenda.
For more information on the WG Emerging
compounds, please contact: Leonard Osté
([email protected]).
For more information about WssTP, please contact:
Durk Krol ([email protected])
5
WATER-M – Paving the Way for Unified
Intelligent Water Management
Water is a finite resource that should be carefully
managed. However, more than 50% of the world
population is living on areas with a water sustainability
problem. Europe, despite of relatively sufficient water
resources, is facing challenges with water safety and
contamination issues and supply operation system
efficiency. The Water-M project is geared to enable
the creation of new products and services to build
a unified water business model . The core of the
project includes subjects like providing early warning
tools, novel monitoring solutions, real time acquisition
and processing platforms and new services for both
water suppliers and water consumers. Water-M
project deals with interoperability issues, real-time,
big data and heterogeneous data challenges and
aimes to find solutions towards a Unified Smart
Water Network.
One of the main objectives of the project is defining
a unified smart operation for water supply. This is
achieved via development and demonstration actions
in collaboration of several water supply stakeholders;
water utilities, research institutes, technology solution
providers and responsible authorities. The solutions,
which are not nowadays widely used in enhancing
water safety and supply efficiency, include adding
distributed intelligence via real-time platforms, XTPP
and large storage and data processing technologies.
The provision and validation of novel monitoring
and sensing solutions for detecting possible harmful
compounds and residues form a remarkable part in
enhancing water safety and quality. Providing new
added value services and information for smart water
networks to both suppliers and customers pave the
way for new business and operation model. This
allows citizens and different kind of interest groups
to understand and participate on enhancing a highquality water supply system.
The Business Value of the project is
based on following topics:
1)
Implementing a smart monitoring and early
warning tools for failure detection, diagnosis, water
outages and harmful compound detection.
2)
Providing a unified Water Information Model
for exploiting data from the water grids and support
decision making to increase reliability of operations.
3)
Achieving high levels of water supply
efficiency employing more efficient leak detection
and network monitoring
The Water-M project is carried out as a part of
European ITEA2-programme and EUREKA! cluster.
It includes industry-leaded consortiums from Finland,
France, Turkey and Romania and is carried out by
selections of companies, research institutes and a
governmental authority. The project is running until
DEC 2016.
Outi Laatikainen, Measurepolis Development Ltd:
“I find the availability of safe and high-qualified fresh water as a
very remarkable benefit and possibility for European Well-being in
Future. We have wonderful excellence to develop the European
way to ensure and enhance water supply system further to a
totally new level. The awareness for possibility of harmful
compound contamination has been rising as a remarkable issue
in EU agenda - and active citizens have been adapting the
crowdsourcing idea and want to participate in ensuring their
water quality. It’s great to be at the frontline of a renewing
European excellence area with such and interesting expert group!”
Jérôme Meloni: “ Nowadays
it appears as an evidence
that fresh water is becoming a scarce resource and so more
and more precious one. This project is the opportunity to use
new technologies allowing better water management policies
in the way to avoid waste and water stress problems. Beyond
economic benefits considered by targeted results, the
environmental aspect is really important for us and this project
can help us to take care about fresh water for a sustainable future.”
6
Water-M consortium was presenting the
idea for novel water management systems
at ITEA & ARTEMIS Co-Summit 2015
(Outi Laatikainen, Serge Deydestere,
Jerome Meloni & Golnaz Garbashi)
Unified Intelligent Water Management
Project summary
Water is a finite resource that should be carefully
managed. However, more than 50% of the world
population is living on areas with a water sustainability
problem. The Water-M project is geared to enable
the creation of new products and services to build
a unified water business model with the core of early
warning tools, real time acquisition and processing
platforms and services for water suppliers and water
consumers. Water-M project deals with the
interoperability, real-time, big data and heterogeneous
data challenges to find solutions towards a Smart
Water Network.
Objectives
- Defining a unified smart operation for water supply
- Distributed intelligence via real-time platforms,
XTPP and large storage and processing technologies
- Providing new added value services and information
for smart water networks to both suppliers and
customers
Unique selling Points / Business value
- Implementing a smart monitoring and early warning
tools for failure detection, diagnosis and water
outages
- Providing a unified Water Information Model for
exploiting data from the water grids and support
decision making to increase reliability operation - - Achieving high levels of water efficiency and the
reduction of water consumption
Results
- A robust secured distributed data platform
supporting realtime data acquisition and control
mechanisms
- A unified Water information model for exploiting
data from the water grids to increase reliability
operation
- Proposing and implementing an open standard
architecture based on the most advanced and flexible
IT architectures
- A framework to support the intelligent management
of smart water networks
itea3.org/project/water-m.html
7
analysis reliability
Wandaterthebalance
use of its results in mine
water management
Mine water management is the storage, transfer and
processing of water of various qualities within the
boundaries of the mining area so that it does not
cause problems in production and beyond the mining
area. By reliably calculating the water balance, it is
possible to get process technology and recycling
solutions right and to calculate waste water amounts.
Mine water balance analysis requires raw data not
only on ore body, prevailing weather conditions, and
the ore extraction and recovery process but also on
gangue and by-product storage. For example, at the
start of a project there are typically several ore
treatment alternatives to choose from and the method
of storing by-products is not finalised, causing a
uncertainty in the raw data used for analysis at this
stage.
It is possible to predict weather conditions to a fairly
high degree of accuracy by considering different
scenarios – the water balance for both exceptionally
wet years and annual average rainfall can be
calculated. Statistics provide reliable data on the
melting period and autumn flooding, for which mines
can prepare. For example, it is possible to prepare
M
8 8
Annika Hämäläinen | Managing Director | Teollisuustaito Oy
for a high or low water balance by building adjacent
water pipelines and treatment plants or by using
buffer pools. The obligations set out in environmental
permits should also take seasonal variation into
account.
On the other hand, there is no easy or cheap way
of measuring ground water flow rates in mining –
at least not before the mine is in operation. Even
after mining has begun, it can be difficult to
determine how much rain water, runoff or ground
water is present even though the total volume of
pumped off water can be measured.
Ore body mineralogy, the structure of the ore deposit
and the gangue/ore ratio all affect the volumes and
composition of waters present in the mine. Although
the mineralogy of valuable minerals is often known,
it is possible that acidifying and even neutralising
minerals are analysed less thoroughly during feasibility
studies.
An understanding of the ore extraction and recovery
process and ore body chemical reactions and
phenomena are crucial to process mass and water
balance. Data for the ore treatment plant can be
acquired using pilot runs, for example. Before mining
begins, solubility testing can be used to estimate the
solution rate of minerals. Nevertheless, estimates
based on test results always include some degree of
uncertainty. This is due to complex composition, the
effect of chemicals and extremely slow rates of
reaction, among other reasons.
Although water and particularly mass balance analysis
requires extensive and high-quality raw data, in most
cases it is possible to plan mine water management
so that unwelcome surprises can be avoided. In
addition to the design of the system and the quality
of raw data, good planning procedures should also
be followed to guarantee the operational reliability
of the process. It is also important to allow for
updating and adjusting the water balance model
and altering water management systems, when
further data is available after mining has begun.
Mine water management planning
tools and methods
Mine water management is the storage, transfer and
processing of water of various qualities within the
mining area so that it does not cause problems in
production and beyond the mining area. It requires
reliable planning in many technical sectors, of which
process design produces the raw data for many other
types planning as a basis for environmental impact
assessment and cost analysis.
The most important tool in water management
process design is water balance analysis. Water
balance is the volume of water that enters and exits
a given area. In order to plan a mine water
management system, knowledge of the internal
connections, flow rates and water qualities of the
various parts of the water balance area is needed to
extend the analysis to include other elements.
Mass balance analysis is also linked to the ore
extraction and recovery process. Combining water
and mass balance in one model is a good solution
from a water management perspective because the
concentrations and amounts of components, such
as chemicals, from the process that affect water
composition, can be analysed as part of the water
balance.
Finland’s natural waterways make the water balance
positive – more water flows in unless directed into
nearby waterways or used in the process. For this
reason, it is crucial to know the energy balance of
the process, its water-consuming reactions and water
adsorbing materials when determining water flow
volume in the mining area.
In addition to weather, surface and ground water
conditions, mine location data also includes ore body
properties. Mining waters contain sulphide minerals
causing acidification and also neutralising minerals,
which have a considerable impact on water quality.
The proportion of gangue also affects the water
balance. For example, the size of the waste rock
dumping area affects the amount of rainwater to be
purified.
Therefore, mine water management process planning
requires comprehensive raw data concerning the
deposit, the area’s water and weather conditions as
well as the ore extraction and recovery process. A
part of this data is based on actual measurements
and the remaining data must be estimated using,
for example, statistics. However, a degree of accuracy
and reliability is always associated with measurements.
Additionally, pilot runs can be used when planning
the ore treatment process.
The quality of the raw data is a core issue in mine
water balance modelling since it determines how
reliably the development of water flow volumes and
quality can be estimated. Since water balance analysis
results are used for device, pipeline, instrument and
storage pool sizing, the impact of the quality of the
raw planning data extends well into the operational
stage of the plant.
It is typical of the initial stages of planning that
scenario analysis or so called sensitivity analyses are
used to determine the impact of changes in the
numerical value of various factors on the end result.
The raw data of factors with greater impact can then
be adjusted further and confidence coefficients can
also be used for support.
Analyses and plans are often adjusted after the plant
is up and running. In this case actual numerical values
can be used to verify assumptions made during the
planning stage.
As is generally the case in mining, the geographical
location of the plant, amongst other factors, affects
water management. Conditions in Finland and
teollisuustaito.fi
9
Introduction
There is clear need for continuous on-line
monitoring of trace metal concentrations in
water streams of industrial activities. Currently
available automated trace metal analyzers are
not suitable for field use due to large size and
high power consumption of the instrumentation,
while the portable analysis kits require manual
procedures by skilled technicians. Furthermore,
most electrochemical measurement techniques
currently used involve highly toxic elemental
mercury in the measurement process, which is
unacceptable especially in environmental
applications. The market potential for monitoring
trace metals has been predicted to increase
strongly in the future on global scale.
Dr. Jarkko Räty & project researcher Mika Mahosenaho, Cemis-Oulu
metal analyzer
O nlinedeveloped
in CEMIS-Oulu
Mika Mahosenaho | Cemis-Oulu
University of Oulu, measurement technology unit
CEMIS-Oulu in Kajaani has carried out a lot of research
in development of electrochemical measurement of
heavy metals in water solutions during recent years.
The measurement system developed in Tekes-funded
MEAN project is based on a sophisticated
electrochemical detection method, where the use of
mercury is avoided. A fully integrated measurement
system consists of all the components needed for
sampling, sample pre-treatment, analysis, data
processing and transfer. The instrument can be
operated and controlled remotely via network
connection, requiring only little amount of
maintenance procedures.
An automated measurement instrument is designed
to operate with low running and maintenance costs.
Continuous monitoring of trace metal levels remotely
on-site enables fast reaction to possible hazardous
incidents like leakages or process failures, unlike the
traditional method involving manual sample collecting
and transportation followed by laboratory-based
offline analysis. Moreover, compared to less-frequent
offline analysis, the developed online monitoring
system provides more accurate evaluation of longterm environmental impact.
Measurement principle
The metal analysis method is based on a voltammetric
technique, in which electrochemically active metal
ions present in the sample are reduced on the working
electrode, and then oxidised during anodic potential
scanning step. Each metal is determined according
to the intensity of electric current at its specific
oxidation peak potential. At present, measurement
10
10
of selected metals (e.g. copper, lead, zinc and
mercury) has been optimized and after further studies
more metals important for industrial sector will be
added to the list of possible analytes. Variety of the
analytes can be extended within certain limits by
adjusting properties of the electrochemical cell by
using different working electrode materials and/or
changing electrolyte composition. When interpreting
the measurement results it should be noted that this
measurement technique can detect only the
electrolabile fraction, not the total concentration of
the metal. However, the ratio between the measured
and total concentration in a water system is usually
stable enough to be used as a base for total emission
calculations.
Towards commercialization
Extensive field tests with the device are now running
to evaluate the reliability of the field compatibility
and maintenance interval of the device in the
demanding year-round weather conditions. The
results obtained with the online analyzer are being
compared to laboratory-based analysis of the
reference sample collected at the same time.
A market study has been performed to recognize
potential customers in industrial sector and to identify
their individual needs related to metal monitoring.
According to the results obtained from this study,
different business models have been evaluated.
Ultimate aim is to create business value in a form or
other, like spin-off company established by CEMISOulu personnel.
Stephanie Grehl | Evolution Energie
evolution
Only 2.5% of the world’s water supply is fresh water.
This makes it an invaluable resource for the next
generations. The European project WATER-M is
geared to enable the creation of new products and
services to build a unified water business model that
will benefit European water stakeholders. As a
member of the WATER-M Project, Evolution Energie
focuses on finding solutions that will be an enabler
for the operation and control of smart water grids,
supported by data exploitation mechanism and
management subsystems.
Evolution Energie is a French software company that
created an exhaustive software solution for energy
data integration and processing across Europe and
worldwide. Currently, Evolution Energie software
solution covers over 6% of the EUs energy
consumption, based on data integration and
processing of resources such as Natural Gas, Power,
Industrial Gases and Water for major industries. With
the use of this complete software solution, clients
can save up to 20% of their energy consumption
and increase the efficiency and transparency of their
resource usage.
Resource management, especially for Energy
production and consumption is becoming more and
more important ecologically and politically across
the world. With most resources such as oil, gas, coal
or water being non-renewable or finite, efficient
usage of resources is vital to respond to the demands
of increasing population numbers. The world’s fresh
water supply, used as a basic consumption and
energy generating resource, is becoming increasingly
scarce in regards to continuously rising population
demands and has to be managed carefully. In this
light, efficient usage of water resources is imperative
energie
and to achieve this aim a comprehensive water
management system is needed. In response to this,
the WATER-M is aiming to enable the creation of
new products and services to build a unified water
management model that will benefit water
stakeholders across the European Union.
To manage resources successfully, the full resource
usage cycle has to be monitored. In regards to water
usage management this starts at the origin of the
water and ends when the water is returned to the
environment after being used. This requires new
technologies to accurately measure water production,
treatment, transportation and consumption in realtime followed by digital integration and processing
of the acquired data to continuously increase efficient
use of the full water cycle.
Evolution Energie concept is based on extensive
background knowledge and research of the
commodity industry and state of the art technology.
It offers a wide range of research capabilities and
industrial experience, with particular expertise in big
data management and analytics, metering data
collection, modeling, software development and
data-visualization. Using know-how of several IT
fields Evolution Energie establishes metering data
gateways, creates market evaluation models and
incorporates compatibilities with SAP + Microsoft
technologies.
Evolution Energie will apply these skills to the WaterM project to facilitate the creation of a complete
smart water management system. Ultimately, this
will be a leading step forward to increase usage
efficiency and save limited fresh water resources.
evolutionenergie.com
11
Network location information
Measurement technology data collection
Open interfaces
Network modelling
Data extraction, analysis
ualitative and quantitative
Qwater
management measurement
data on the map quickly for
more effective use
The international Water-M initiative is aiming to
make an impact: not only by combining distance
water consumption and pressure measurements and
information, it intends to stimulate a revolutionary
change in operational models by combining different
forms of data via open interfaces enabling safer and
more predictable water management.
Water-M is an international research and development
initiative consisting of cooperation projects based in
Finland, France, Turkey and Romania. The members
of the Finnish consortium are Econet Oy, Keypro
Oy, remoteMX Oy, Measurepolis Oy and EHPTekniikka Oy. Measurepolis is the acting Coordinator
for Finland. In addition to the aforementioned
companies, the initiative includes Finland’s leading
research institutes in the field of water management:
Savonia University of Applied Sciences provides
expertise in network modelling while the National
Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), in studying
risks and health related factors. However, Oulu
University will provide the largest contribution to
research with six different department´s representing
expertise in quantitative and qualitative measurement
12
methods, water management process and risk
modelling, algorithm development and wireless data
transfer and security.
What then, is the initiative all about? In brief, primarily
smart water management technology ideas will be
developed to resemble saleable products and, on a
secondary level, the initiative will enable practitioners
to create new networks in Finland and in international
markets. The objective is to increase the
competitiveness of European water management
technology. One of the core ideas supporting the
whole purpose of the initiative is the use of open
standards and interfaces, as set out in figure above.
Moreover, these open interfaces will support
companies specialising in various areas of smart
water management as effectively as possible. Let’s
take a practical example: A company focusing on
the online or real-time measurement of a specific
bacterium does not need to know anything about
a specific network’s place data solution or about a
specific data extraction solution
to be of benefit, but the innovative measurement
data produced by the company in question will travel
smoothly from one subsystem to another. This
concept will open up the water technology sector
to competition which will, in turn, speed up
innovation: how small, specialised practitioners can
be compatible with a smart water management
solution if they all use the same shared interfaces.
In terms of geographical and network data, WaterM will create long overdue transparency and
competition. Web solutions based on open source
code and open standards will play an increasingly
important role in the near future. For instance, one
such solution is Key Aqua, a network data solution
developed by Keypro Oy, a member of Finland’s
consortium. In addition to geographical position and
features data management, Key aqua offers a variety
of features for using open measurement data and
conducting map-based analyses as set out in the
aims of the Water-M initiative. KeyAqua is also
acknowledged for its SMS messaging features and
a mobile user interface, making field work more
productive. For example, leak and pressure
measurements are transferred directly to the pipeline
supervisor’s tablet device in the field and are displayed
in the correct location on a real map. KeyAqua is
already used for water management purposes by
more than 60 network owners.
In the Water-M initiative, Keypro Oy is cooperating
with partners to make the current solution even
more innovative. An example of this is a pilot scheme
with the Kymen Vesi water company in which Keypro
together with two other Finnish consortium members,
Econet Oy and remoteMX Oy, are developing a
unique cloud based measurement solution. The data
produced by this pilot scheme will in turn be refined
and studied by Oulu University.
Interested water management practitioners, both
public and private, please note that the business and
research members of the Finnish consortium are still
looking for interesting pilot schemes. Interested
companies should contact Outi Laatikainen
(Measurepolis Development Ltd), the coordinator of
the Finnish consortium: www.measurepolis.fi
www.keypro.fi
13
Fig 1. Inkeroinen Board’s production capacity is 245 000 tons and the Anjala paper mill, 435,000 tons per year.
They share a joint effluent treatment plant, seen to the right of the picture.
“
n-line
O
measurement
with laboratory
accuracy
The Anjalankoski Mill area is home to
two of Stora Enso's production units, the
Anjala Paper Mill, as well as the Inkeroinen
Board Mill seen here in the background.
Cooperative efforts between the mills cover
raw materials, energy and power generation,
as well as waste water treatment and
resultant sludge drying and firing. The Anjala
paper mill together with the wastewater
treatment plant has a long history of
equipment supplied by Valmet *) measuring
sludge prior to drying and solids content of
reject water. Earlier, the only possible reliable
measurements were tedious laboratory tests
unsuitable for real-time process control.
Environmental values are the priority
For all industrial production, protection of the
environment currently functions as the guideline to
operating conditions with compliance to permitted
values. The pulp and paper industry is one of the
most closely regulated and controlled industries in
the world. The allowable limits generally require best
available technology (BAT) for process measuring
and control technology as well as for manufacturing
processes.
For water protection, effective waste water treatment
and the recovery of harmful substances is of
paramount importance. The large volumes of water
(for Anjalankoski around 30,000 m3 per day), low
solids content and contamination of measuring
devices create special challenges for reliable realtime measurements. Traditionally, the only way to
manage this process was by laboratory analysis which
made rapid corrective control actions impossible.
Valmet *) has developed a measurement technology
to address these challenges. These measurements
now provide real-time process values in the extreme
conditions of the effluent treatment plant.
Measuring solutions in Anjala’s waste
water treatment
The specific need of the Anjalankoski mills was to
get real-time information on flows from clarifiers
14
and to sludge dewatering, as well reject water solids
content from the belt press filter.
Valmet TS (Total Solids) *) transmitters have been
measuring the dry matter content of clarifier sludge
in Anjalankoski since 2010. The transmitter measures
the time of flight of a microwave signal through the
sludge. Time of flight is dependent on the permittivity
of the slurry which for organic substances is practically
constant, whereas the permittivity of water is
considerably different. The measured change in
permittivity allows an accurate calculation of the
total solids content in the slurry. The measured slurry
consistency varies normally from 2 to 3 per cent.
The measuring device in the picture is installed on
the sludge mixture to the belt filter press.
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
The Valmet LS (Low Solids) *) - measuring system is
designed to measure very low, 0 - 5000 mg/liter,
solids content. The Anjalankoski system was installed
in 2011 to measure the solids content of the reject
water leaving the belt press filter, which had normally
varied between 2000 to 5000 mg/liter. The device
utilizes two light sources in a sample measurement
cell where absorption, scattering and depolarization
signals are measured.. The system also deaerates
and filters the sample as well as self-cleaning the
measurement optics at regular intervals.
Fig.2 Simplified diagram of the sludge drying at the
Anjala paper mill wastewater treatment plant.
Fig.3 Comparison to laboratory results
Anjalankoski mill experience
Pertti Rongas, Department Manager, is particularly
pleased with Valmet TS-measuring devices *)
capability to provide accurate measurement data.
"The results have been compared to laboratory tests
and match them perfectly. The transmitters are
reliable and do not require much maintenance. I
wonder how, for example the primary clarifier could
be run efficiently without such a measurement?"
The improved measurements should make it possible
to control the process automatically, but experienced
operators are needed to follow the values in order
to take appropriate action. If, for example, the sludge
from the clarifier has a downward consistency trend,
it could be the sign of a sludge dam forming at the
bottom of the clarifier requiring sludge removal.
The LS-system helps avoid excessive solids content
in the belt press reject water which would normally
circulate unnecessarily over and over again through
the plant. The online measurement allows accurate
monitoring and the current target is to keep the
solids content to less than 350 mg/liter, whereas
earlier it was much higher.
Improved polymer dosage and plant
operation
The operators can now optimize the sludge intended
for combustion by adjusting polymer addition and
belt press speed. Polymer dosage depends on the
amount of slurry mixture and solids volume. A higher
relative proportion of primary sludge reduces the
need for polymer. Sludge is removed from the press
at about 30-35 per cent prior to thermal drying and
firing.
With reliable measurement technology, plant
operation has improved even though dried sludge
volume has increased by about 15 percent since
2011. Real-time measurement results have
significantly improved both the polymer dosage
control and plant operation.
*) product and company names changed from Metso
to Valmet. Valmet acquired Metso’s Process
Automation System business and products on April
1st 2015.
15
sludge analysis
Wastewater
with an on-line optical
monitoring device (MOFI)
a
a
ba
b
Terhi Suopajärvi , Elisa Koivuranta , Jani Tomperi
Fibre and Particle Engineering, University of Oulu Control Engineering, University of Oulu
The morphology analyzer MOFI has been developed
in a MMEA - Measurement, Monitoring and
Environmental Assessment Project, which is a SHOK
program of Energy and Environment Cluster, CLEEN.
(MOFI) is the on-line optical monitoring device, which
has been used in the analysis of wastewater flocs
morphology. MOFI has been used in the flocculation
performances studies in the laboratory scale with
different chemicals, wastewaters and sludges. With
MOFI differences in floc morphologies with different
chemicals have been compared and studied how
different flocs are breaking during the pumping of
the sample .
MOFI consists of an imaging unit, a sample handling
unit and a control PC and electronics unit (Fig. 1).
The imaging unit is equipped with a CCD camera,
LED light source and a cuvette. The cuvette is planar
with the special design, which makes the flow of
the sample laminar . The sample can be recirculated
back to the sample handling unit, like in the case of
floc strength tests or it can be led to disposal after
imaging.
MOFI has been placed in the wastewater treatment
plant (Viikinmäki, Helsinki) as in situ sludge floc
analyzer at the end of May 2013 (Fig. 1), and since
then image analysis from the flocs of the biosludge
has been done approximately four times per day.
The CCD camera was changed to one with better
resolution at February 2014, which has improved
the results of image analysis by giving more accurate
data of the morphology of the flocs.
Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of floc measurement environment (MOFI) and MOFI at Viikinmäki waste water treatment plant.
The automated image analysis program is used to
calculate the different size and shape parameters;
equivalent diameter, amount of filaments, roundness,
aspect ratio and the amount of small particles (<
25µm), which are not settling down easily, in each
image. One image contains about 150 particles and
the amount of images per analysis is around 1000,
which makes the amount of analyzed particles
16
approximately 150 000 per sampling .
MOFI analyses have shown that mainly temperature
of the wastewater effects in the growth of filaments
and other morphological parameter (Fig. 2) and by
that also to the purification results. Also sludge age
and the amount of the sludge have effect on the
growth of filaments.
Fig. 2. The effect of temperature on the growth of filaments and on the equivalent diameter of flocs.
It has been seen that extensive filaments growth
affects the morphology of the flocs. High filament
content decreases the roundness and the size of the
flocs and increases the amount of small (<25 µm)
particles. On that account, the amount of suspended
solid and nutrients increases in the purified water
by decreasing the purification result (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3. The effect of floc morphology on the amount of suspended solids (SS) and nutrients on biologically treated wastewater. a)
The content of filaments versus SS, b) the equivalent diameter of flocs versus biological oxygen demand (BOD), c) the roundness
of flocs and d) the amount of small particles versus total phosphor content.
Analyzing the floc data from a long period of time has
offered an opportunity to follow different parameters
and their effect on purification result in different
situations and find correlations between floc parameters,
online measurements and results from laboratory
analysis.
17
Suspended solids content in biologically treated
wastewater, which is one parameter to assess the
treatment process efficiency, can be predicted with a
simple model (Fig.4) developed using the on-line optical
analysis parameters and process measurements from
the early stage of the process . Since the optical
monitoring is performed in the aeration tank, proactive
information about the quality of effluent is received
over ten hours in advance.
Fig. 4. Modelled versus measured suspended
solids content in biologically treated wastewater.
MOFI is a useful analyzer device in the laboratory scale as well as an on-line analyzer in a plant scale. It gives accurate
information about flocs morphology and current situation in a purification performance in the aeration tank.
References
Koivuranta E, Keskitalo J, Haapala A, Stoor T, Sarén M & Niinimäki J (2013): Optical monitoring
of activated sludge flocs in bulking and non-bulking conditions. Environ Technol 34: 679–686.
Koivuranta E, Keskitalo J, Stoor T, Hattuniemi J, Sarén M & Niinimäki J (2014): A comparison
between floc morphology and the effluent clarity at a full-scale activated sludge plant using optical
monitoring. Environ Technol 1–6.
Koivuranta E, Stoor T, Hattuniemi J & Niinimäki J (2015): On-line optical monitoring of activated
sludge floc morphology. J Water Process Eng 5: 28–34.
Suopajärvi T, Koivuranta E, Liimatainen H & Niinimäki J (2014): Flocculation of municipal wastewaters
with anionic nanocelluloses: Influence of nanocellulose characteristics on floc morphology and
strength. J Environ Chem Eng 2: 2005–2012.
Tomperi J, Koivuranta E, Kuokkanen A, Juuso E & Leiviskä K (2015): Real-time optical monitoring
of wastewater treatment process. Environ Technol Submitted.
18
olution to remove soluble metals
sfrom
process waters and effluents
Aquaminerals Finland Ltd is a privately owned Finnish
company specializing in production of heavy metal
and metalloid sorbents. Company is registered to
Paltamo, close to a city of Kajaani in Finland. Products
of Aquaminerals are used in waste water treatment,
both in industrial and domestic facilities. The products
are powerful in removing potentially toxic elements
(e.g. heavy metals) from waste water.
Activity of the company is based on scientific research
carried out at the University of Oulu between 20052012. Patented products are derived from modified
natural minerals.
Products of Aquaminerals have proved to be both
cost-efficient and high in performance in terms of
adsorbing e.g. chrome, phosphorus, arsenic, uranium,
nickel, copper, lead, zinc, manganese and cadmium.
Their effect is based on simultaneous adsorption and
neutralization. Adsorbents take the form of fine
powder which can be tailored for specific aqueous
environments.
aquaminerals.fi
Aquaminerals manufactures also modified mineral
powder which can be used for intensification of
settling and pH regulation (incl. detoxification).
Main applications of Aquaminerals products include
the following:
o Treating waste water of flue gas scrubbers
o Treating diluted effluent water of mining companies
o Waste water treatment of a surface treatment or
coating plants Besides, products can be used with
mine drainage-, road bank-, as well as contaminated
soil management.
In connection to mineral deliveries portable dosing
system is delivered. One unit can treat 50-300 m3
waste water per hour. Installation at the site takes
only a few days.
Partners wanted
Aquaminerals is currently searching partners to
execute pilot projects at overseas markets. Please do
not hesitate to contact Marketing and Sales Director
Mr. Tuomo Pikkarainen (+358 40 551 9994 or e-mail
tuomo.pikkarainen(at)aquaminerals.fi).
19
Finnish
Water Forum Your link to international
projects and collaboration
Katri Mehtonen, Markus Tuukkanen, Timo Koski, Aura Salmivaara
As a joint network of private and public water
sectors, Finnish Water Forum (FWF) serves as a
platform through which enterprises, scientific
institutions, government and nongovernment
organizations can create partnerships and link their
knowledge to find solutions for global water
challenges. FWF was established in 2009 to promote
Finnish water sector’s knowhow in international
forums and projects. With more than 100 member
organizations, members’ range of skills covers
sustainable solutions for a complete range of needs.
Ministry of Economy and Employment is looking for
growth sectors to be funded for joint business promotion
actions. FWF together with its members and Finpro
have made a proposal for a water sectors growth
programme to support Finnish water sector companies’
growth internationally
(http://www.finnishwaterforum.fi/binary/file/-/fid/1953/).
The Finnish strongholds lie in:
·
·
·
·
·
Long traditions in Integrated Water Resources
Management, transboundary water resources
management and water governance give the Finnish
knowhow solid foundation. Water issues together
with Millennium Development Goals and water
security are also high on Finland’s development
agenda.
FWF leverages private and public sector co-operation
in generation of new projects, which involves activities
ranging from marketing and communication,
development of business models and service concepts,
mapping out concrete business export opportunities,
and collaboration among other export promoters
such as Finpro. Figure 1 describes the activities and
role of FWF in more detail.
The estimated value of global water market is 375
billion USD and currently Finnish water business
activities reach 4 billion euros. Growing trends and
opportunities can be found in blue bioeconomy,
circulating economy and also in the fields of
ecosystem services and smart water.
·
Water efficiency & Clean Tech
Smart Water
Arctic water knowhow
Waste water and sludge treatment
Industrial water and waste water
treatment
FWF with its members offer services
to all water challenges – individual and
comprehensive solutions: Design,
engineering, monitoring, measurement,
equipment, chemicals, policy, governance,
research, education
FWF member benefits include:
·
·
·
·
Links and match-making to partners, international
opportunities and projects
FWF to represent and market members in international
events
FWF to lobby member views, e.g. for instruments
enhancing export activities
Possibility to join various working groups chaired by
member organizations for joint activities benefitting
all participants
Fig 1. The role of FWF in promoting the export of Finnish knowhow.
BENCHMARKING FINNISH SMART WATER
KNOWHOW
Finnish Water Forum conducted an assessment of
the current state of Smart Water in Finland and
globally. Finnish companies in water sectors were
interviewed and the Finnish knowhow in smart water
technology was assessed and the export opportunities
were mapped. This study and more recent experiences
show that Finnish Smart Water knowledge is among
the best in the world.
Smart water technology is about utilizing and
analyzing various data sources, which enhances
making water treatment, distribution and use more
efficient and automatic (Fig 2 & 3). The benefits of
using ICT need to be clearly measurable and show
economically sound influences.
Globally main applications are optimization of water
use in water scarce regions and identification and
reduction of leakages in the water distribution
network.
Concepts of Smart City in city planning and Smart
Grid in power distribution network share the visions
and goals with Smart Water. The fast development
and increased accessibility both technically and
financially of ICT and measurement and modeling
systems have enabled new possibilities to integrate
data from different sources in such way that
management systems can be developed and new
systems can be built without big investments.
The results of the FWF Smart Water assessment
indicate that there is export potential in Finnish Smart
Water knowhow. There are Finnish companies
working on practically all Smart Water sectors though
only few have yet become international. Some of
the big global water sector companies have their
Smart Water knowledge turned into products making
it tougher for SME´s to thrive. Therefore co-operation
with a larger company is practically a must for many
of the companies for international success.
Technology development especially in data transfer
and measurement technologies may also quickly
open new opportunities.
The assessment is available here to FWF members –
send request to [email protected]
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR FWF:
Managing Director, Katri Mehtonen, tel. +358 40
5722 468
Deputy Managing Director, Markus Tuukkanen, tel.
+358 40 865 3175
GOAL FOR SMART WATER NETWORK
“Fully integrated multi-sourced compilation of products,
solutions and systems enabling automatic round-the-clock
remote on-line monitoring, operation and problem
preventative management” (Andrew Burrows, SAWN 2013)
Fig 2. Remote on-line monitoring & forecasting, (Figure by Kemira & Vaisala)
Fig 3. Technology layers making systems smart (Figure by SWAN network)
corporate cooperation
bioenergy
research
wood innovation
technology environment
information technology
consulting
Research&Development
mine management water
marketing
development programmes
green energy communications
business information system
wireless
www.measurepolis.fi
ISSN 1797-1578
measurement vehicle