With a comprehensive portfolio of geared units, electric motors, inverters, automation solutions and digital monitoring systems, Bonfiglioli offers effective, efficient and reliable solutions for wastewater treatment. Easy maintenance, adaptability, compactness and a wide torque range are among the fundamental features of the company’s solutions for this sector.
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With a full portfolio of drive and automation products, Bonfiglioli can offer efficient solutions for multiple applications in support of wastewater treatment plants.
As is evident across sub-Saharan Africa, we are in the midst of an escalating water crisis. The media is full of articles on how global warming is increasing the core temperature of the Earth, and recent studies predict that, by the year 2050, sub-Saharan Africa could be receiving 10% less rainfall every year.
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play a crucial role in maintaining public health and environmental safety by processing and purifying wastewater before it is released back into natural water bodies. These WWTPs rely heavily on geared-drive systems for effective and reliable operation.
For more than sixty years, Bonfiglioli has been teaming up with equipment manufacturers and industrial and mining solution providers to assist them in supplying world-class products that can mitigate against water scarcity. From desalination to purification, the water and wastewater sector is complex and requires reliable solutions to ensure the uninterrupted flow of operations. With a full portfolio of drive and automation products, Bonfiglioli can offer efficient solutions for multiple applications in support of wastewater treatment plants.
Low maintenance, versatility, efficiency and reliability are fundamental features required for water and wastewater processes. Through the precise control of drive speeds, we can supply energy-saving solutions for the pumps, mixers, aerators, clarifiers, filters, water screens and conveyors typically used in this sector.
Bonfiglioli gearboxes have been deployed in thousands of facilities, from municipal wastewater plants to industrial water recycling units. The company’s long-standing relationships with OEMs in the water sector attest to the reliability of its solutions and the technical expertise of its engineers.
Preliminary treatment
In the preliminary stages of wastewater treatment, raw water is routed through gate valves for flow control, before being routed through bar screens, rotary drum screens and mesh filters to remove large debris and solids. Subsequent screening and grit removal channels allow sand and heavy particles to settle, and rakes are used to remove accumulated rubbish and debris from the bar screens, preventing clogging and ensuring consistent water flow.
Water gate valves, essential for preventing flooding and maintaining balanced flow, use drives such as Bonfiglioli 3/A Series planetary gearboxes to deliver the high torque needed to actuate the gates at the required speed. A wide reduction ratio is available and, when coupled with an Agile Series Smart inverter, smooth starts and fine speed regulation can be achieved for optimal effluent flow control.
Finer particles are then removed using mesh filters. For these, a shaft-mounted Bonfiglioli F Series gearbox, geared motor and smart inverter combination is the preferred choice.
Primary treatment
The screened influent then enters settling tanks or clarifiers, where coagulants and flocculants are added to help the finer particles coalesce, with a low-velocity skimmer gently stirring the tank and removing surface debris. Heavier particles and other solid waste sink to the bottom, where they are collected and discharged as primary sludge. This clarification stage typically eliminates 40-60% of suspended solids and reduces organic loading.
A high torque, low speed drive is necessary to drive a clarifier rake, making Bonfiglioli’s 300M Series planetary drive with a directly coupled geared motor ideal. A premium Active Cube inverter can be used to provide variable speed, automation and failure protection functions, adding reliability and energy efficiency to this stage of the process.
Secondary treatment
Clarified water then enters a series of aeration basins, which are biological reactors that use activated sludge to break down the organic material in sewage and/or industrial wastewater. The biological reaction requires oxygen to be dissolved in the water. This is done using surface aerators, rotating systems with paddle-like blades or impellers that agitate the surface water to introduce air bubbles into the water.
Bonfiglioli’s HD Series gearbox range is meticulously designed to meet the rigorous demands of aerating, agitating and mixing applications. The Series offers standard and customised solutions, with either bevel helical (HDO) or parallel shaft (HDP) arrangements.
The units can be configured with housings with extended bearing centres on the output shaft, significantly increasing their capacity to withstand high shaft loading. In addition, the compact Active Cube inverter drive is recommended to deliver customisable, multi-drive synchronisation and torque control.
Sludge treatment and disposal
The sludge from primary, secondary and tertiary stages of wastewater treatment needs to be removed, thickened, stabilised and dewatered. Separating the water from the solids often involves compressing the sludge or slurry using a screw press, a rotating screw housed in a cylindrical or conical structure. As the screw rotates, it compresses the sludge, expelling water through apertures while retaining the dewatered solids.
This transfers high axial loads to the drive, which is why Bonfiglioli’s extensive product range offers a variety of technologies and solutions to ensure robust, reliable performance. The modular, compact and easy-to-install design of Bonfiglioli’s planetary range, for example, aligns well with the low-speed, high-torque requirements of these presses.
Key advantages of the wastewater range
Bonfiglioli gearboxes are popular in wastewater treatment, mixing and agitating applications for their modular design. Facilities often require customised setups based on capacity, process layout or local regulatory standards. Bonfiglioli offers a wide range of configurations, including: worm gearboxes; helical inline geared motors; helical-bevel gearboxes; parallel shaft gear units and planetary gear systems.
This modularity allows systems integrators and OEMs to tailor the drive solution to the specific demands of each application. Maintenance in wastewater treatment plants can be challenging due to the nature of the environment and the continuous operation of most equipment. Bonfiglioli gearboxes are engineered for long maintenance intervals and simplified servicing, thereby significantly reducing the total costs of ownership (TCO) and offering a high return on investment (ROI) compared to less durable alternatives.
Complete solutions
Bonfiglioli’s scope of supply extends much further than gearboxes. The company offers in-house designed, turnkey solutions for the water sector, which can be supplied fully assembled. Each drive solution typically consists of a gear unit, motor, inverter and couplings, engineered to interface seamlessly with the customer's equipment to ensure quick and easy installations.
Modular gearbox solutions are available for every aspect of a treatment plant, from the high torque, low speed planetary Series to the HDO and HDP heavy duty industrial range, and the compact, high efficiency inline or right angle drives such as the C (in-line helical), A (bevel helical) and F (shaft mounted) geared motor series.
The Active Cube frequency inverter range offers flexibility and intelligent control from premium cabinet inverters to compact, regenerative and decentralised options. These come with integrated programmable logic (PLC), encoder feedback and remote diagnostics. This functionality enables operators to optimise plant performance based on real-time system feedback.
In addition, Bonfiglioli has an IoT digital monitoring system that integrates into SCADA platforms and cloud-based asset management solutions. The system is a fully customisable solution for OEMs and empowers operators to adopt predictive maintenance strategies from live conditional monitoring data. This enables the shift away from reactive service models to condition-based interventions that improve plant reliability, reduce downtime and lower costs.
“There is growing pressure on municipalities and governments to improve the quality of drinking water and the treatment of sewage. If the sources of the water are not correctly treated, this will have a direct impact on the quantity of available water. The fact that water is a renewable resource is a blessing for us, as it can replenish itself again and again over time, but that doesn’t mean that we can take it for granted and not give water the importance that it deserves.
The Bonfiglioli ‘we engineer dreams’ motto is testament to the company’s determination to continue to partner with both public and private enterprises in the fight against relieving water shortages and improving the quality of treated wastewater.
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