COLLOIDE ENGINEERING SYSTEMS

What is Anaerobic Digestion? Anaerobic Digestion is a natural biological process that can be used to generate renewable energy and manage waste. The process takes place in an oxygen-free digester, where micro-organisms convert organic material such as food waste, slurries and crop residues into: Biogas Biogas is a mixture of biomethane gas and carbon dioxide. The biogas can be used directly in CHP engines to produce renewable heat and power, or it can be burned to produce heat only. Alternatively, biomethane can be produced by removing the carbon dioxide from the biogas. The biomethane has many valuable uses. It can be injected into the gas grid as a renewable replacement for natural gas or it can be used as vehicle fuel. Digestate The by-product from the AD process is called ‘digestate’. It is rich in valuable plant nutrients such as nitrogen and potassium, and can be used as a renewable fertiliser/soil conditioner.

Colloide designs and constructs sustainable biomass heating solutions for all types of businesses, from small organisations to large commercial and industrial enterprises. We design and install the complete system including the boiler, biomass storage, pipework, buffer vessels and controls. We also offer a packaged biomass system called the ‘Heat Pod’ which is a complete heating solution within its own building, ready to deliver to site. This system includes boiler(s), pipework and storage; all within one unit. Whether furnace control, pellet conveying, buffer management, hot water preparation, weather controlled heating circuit with a weekly program for two circuits, or the connected solar heating system: all of this can be controlled via a touchscreen directly on the boiler or via the internet from any PC, smartphone or tablet. It‘s a lot, but it‘s easy to handle as the images on the touchscreen are self-explanatory.

These packages are tailored to suit our clients’ requirements while adhering to European Standards, Ciria and HSE guidance. We engineer solutions to integrate into existing or new sites and can also provide packaged, standalone systems which are largely independent of the main plant. We provide solutions for chemicals such as sodium hydroxide, sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, ferric sulphate, aluminium sulphate, ferric chloride, antifoam, ortho-phosphoric acid, etc. Storage capacity, duty/standby configurations, materials of construction, etc. are tailored to the application, to provide adequate storage and ensure that the system can be operated and maintained safely. The chemical storage and dosing systems are fully fitted with instrumentation such as level controls, leak detection, flowmeters, etc. and are generally PLC controlled with an operator interface panel or PC used to allow the operator to view the plant operation and change parameters.

Colloide provides circular and rectangular scraping systems (plastic and steel) for settlement and flotation tanks. These tanks are generally rectangular or circular, designed to separate solids from the liquid by either settlement or flotation. Circular Tanks We offer two alternatives for circular tanks: -A rotating bridge structure powered by a peripheral drive unit. The bridge supports a frame below it onto which is fixed sludge scraping blades at floor level and a scum blade at top water level. -A fixed bridge mounted on the walls of the tank. A central drive unit rotates the scraping mechanism around the tank, the sludge scraping blades diverting the sludge to a hopper. Rectangular Tanks A chain and flight principle is used for rectangular tanks, consisting of two main chains which move the scraping booms up and down the tanks. When scraping at top water level, the booms push the floated material to one end of the tank, where it is collected by a rotating sludge pipe.

Colloide‘s Dynamic Sand Filter offers an excellent treatment system for the removal of solids and other contaminants from a water/wastewater stream. This filter is always on line, continually filtering the incoming water while continually backwashing a small portion of the sand bed. The Dynamic Sand Filter process: The feed water is fed into the filter at the base of the active sand bed through the distribution ring. It then flows upward through the downward moving sand bed where the solids are filtered out. The clean filtrate exits the filter through the overflow weir. The continuous reject flow of washing water is discharged through a separate outlet. The dirty sand is continuously removed from the active sand bed thanks to the action of the air-lift pump. This pump draws the contaminated sand from the bottom of the filter body. A mixture of sand, dirty particles and water is transported upward through the air-lift pipe into the washing chamber at the top of the filter.

District heating systems include a centralised energy centre which then distributes the heat through a network of insulated pipes to the buildings which are connected to the network. The network of pipework consists of a flow and return loop which passes each building. Colloide uses local substations in each building to control the flow of water from the district heating pipework loop through each substation and this flow is used to generate heat in the local building. The central energy centres are generally designed to have more than one energy source, which allows the plant operator to select the most cost efficient and sustainable way of providing the energy needed with the energy sources being brought on and off line to meet demand. We design and build the district heating and cooling networks to include the pumps, pipework, thermal stores, instrumentation, control systems, local substations, heat exchangers and communication through a central control system.

Colloide designs and installs heat pump systems. The heat pump extracts the energy at the source temperature and then raises the temperature to a useable level. A heat exchanger is used to extract the heat from the circuit at this point, with the now cooled medium being returned to the source where it is reheating. Reversible heat pumps can also be used in cooling function which can be important in the summer months. The heat pump works as part of a closed loop, operating between the heat source and the building where it is to be used. Heat sources include air, water, ground and waste heat. The higher the temperature and larger the size of the source energy, the better it is for providing energy. Colloide designs its systems to maximise the return from the heat source. Our heat pumps include a control system. The control system will vary depending on the plant, but is always designed to give our customers full control, including the ability to monitor performance remotely.

Colloide designs and builds customised energy centres which generate heat which can then be distributed to buildings or district heat networks. We can also incorporate CHP units within the energy centre, providing electricity along with heat and a low carbon heat and power solution. Our energy centres are often designed to have more than one energy source, allowing the plant operator to vary the energy sources in relation to the energy demand and the best value for money at a given time. The energy sources may include: Gas fired boilers. Biomass boilers. Heat pump. Oil fired boilers. Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit Our centres are engineered to include the energy sources, thermal stores, instrumentation, control systems, pumping and pipework network – building in as much flexibility as possible so that the plant can be operated as efficiently as possible.

Colloide designs and builds a variety of pumping systems for our clients, pumping anything from pure water through to heavy slurries. As a process engineering contractor, we will develop the package which is the best fit for the purpose. It will have one or more pumps at the core, but with ancillary equipment designed into the system. Variances include: A variety of pump types such as submersible/dry well end suction/progressive cavity/ vertical multistage etc. Pipework in stainless steel, ductile iron, galvanized mild steel, epoxy coated steel, UPVC, ABS, MDPE… Control panels in a range of standards with optional data logging, alarms, remote monitoring, etc. Level controls such as ultrasonic level contollers, float switches, pressure transducers.

Clarifiers are settling tanks built for continuous removal of solids. Clarifiers are generally used to remove solid particulates or suspended solids from liquid for clarification and (or) thickening. We use lamella settlers within our clarifiers, which greatly increases the clarifier capacity and enables a much greater flow to be treated in the same footprint as conventional clarification. Our design also ensures maximum efficiency in terms of upward flow velocities. The lamella settlers can be used in new builds and are also an excellent option for upgrading and increasing the flow through an existing plant. Our clarifiers can be designed in a wide range of sizes and configurations to suit the individual needs of each of our clients. The clarifier can be used as a standalone system, taking the full plant flow, with or without additional equipment such as sand filters, screens, etc.