Help Improve Biogas Production Efficiency

The ability to reduce the time taken for an average maintenance operation from 1 day to just 1 hour was one of the key reasons why an EZstrip maintain-in-place, progressing cavity transfer pump from NOV Mono (UK) was selected by a large wastewater treatment plant in Germany.

The Mono pump has been installed at the Karanlage Plön site in Schleswig-Holstien, and transfers sewage sludge to an anaerobic digester where it is used to create biogas. Operating at a duty speed of 294 rpm, the pump transfers the sludge at a rate of 15m³ per hour, and lifts it a height of 18 metres into the digester.

“Whenever the previous pump had to be maintained it took a full 8-hour shift to strip, maintain and rebuild it,” says the plant’s Abwassermeister, Andreas Laatsch. “The ability to do this to the Mono pump in as little as one hour has cut our maintenance times dramatically and also helped reduce the associated costs.”

Mono’s innovative EZstrip technology allows the pump to be disassembled quickly and easily, without the need to remove other equipment or associated pipework. By simply removing a few screws the suction chamber is easily dismantled, giving access to take out any rag build-up. The EZstrip transfer pump can be installed into new plants, or retro-fitted into existing NOV Mono Compact C installations. No electrical disconnection is required and suction and discharge pipes remain untouched

“There are increasing numbers of instances such as this where customers are coming to realise the tremendous time and cost savings which our EZstrip pumps offer,” adds Mono’s Area Sales Manager in Germany, Werner Potrafke. “The EZstrip technology has been specifically designed to provide a quick and easy way to disassemble, de-rag and maintain a PC pump in-situ, and it represents the biggest leap forward in progressing cavity pump design for 30 years.”

Available in cast iron or stainless steel and with a choice of rotor and stator materials, the EZstrip transfer pumps can be maintained with nothing more than spanners and an allen key. A pre-assembled drive train is available, with 2 year warranty, to allow an even faster re-assembly time.