Inditherm, the provider of innovative heating solutions, announces successful results for trials of its low voltage carbon polymer heating system at the Severn Trent Minworth Sewage Treatment Works.

Inditherm, the provider of innovative heating solutions, announces successful results for trials of its low voltage carbon polymer heating system at the Severn Trent Minworth sewage treatment Works, near Birmingham, UK. The trials have conclusively demonstrated that uniform heating of sewerage sludge pipelines at the plant has solved a significant problem with the accumulation of fatty substances on the inside of pipe walls. Minworth Sewage Treatment Works (STW), situated to the South West of Birmingham, serves a population of over 2.5 million.

Until now, Severn Trent has experienced problems with the build-up of fatty deposits in the discharge pipework from the Centrifuge Thickening Plant.

This accumulation is especially acute in bends, valves and pumps where it leads to a gradual loss in plant performance and, ultimately, the need for regular maintenance shutdowns.

Mark Vine, a Senior Technician at Minworth, explains: 'I like to use the human body to illustrate the problem, and the Inditherm solution.

The vital supplies to our sludge digestion plant were, quite literally, being restricted by grease and fat deposits, just as cholesterol clogs human arteries.

A gradual thickening of the pipe walls leads to restricted sewage flow, resulting in a reduced throughput by up to 20% or, in extreme cases resulting in the centrifuge pumps tripping out.

The only remedy to date has been shutting down the associated plant for time-consuming and expensive jetting'.

These maintenance shutdowns are typically required every six weeks, taking up to two days and costing over GBP2,000 a time.

In addition to these direct costs, the fatty deposits also have a negative impact on the Minworth energy bills, firstly because the sludge pumps have to work harder and, secondly, because restricted flow to the digesters reduces the amount of methane available to the award-winning Minworth sewage-to-energy plant.

During the maintenance shutdowns the sludge thickening facility is bypassed which has led to a reduction in gas production from the digestion plant.

This has a knock on effect in terms of loss of revenue as the site is unable to export surplus electricity to the national grid, thereby increasing the requirement for importing electricity.

Vine continues: 'The trial with Inditherm has been extremely impressive to date, with almost no fatty deposits observed in the two inspections since the heating jackets were installed in December 2005.

In addition to immediate and quantifiable benefits in the sludge routes, the Inditherm solution is also contributing to efficiency gains across the whole plant.

Further installations and monitoring will reveal quite how much we stand to gain in the long term.

Since the tests have only been completed on line 1 of 2 we are still having to jet clean line two every six weeks, as before'.

Inditherm's solution applies a safe, low voltage across a unique, patented carbon-based polymer to generate a uniform heat.

At Minworth this polymer is encased in heating pads which are strapped to the pipes and covered with conventional insulation and metal cladding.

Commenting on the success of the trials, Richard Harpum, CEO of Inditherm said, 'Although the Inditherm team were confident that we would see a significant reduction in fatty deposits, the trial results far exceeded even our most optimistic expectations, showing no build up at all.

Severn Trent shares our excitement both in terms of the reduced fat build-up and also the anticipated pay-back period of less than a year.

This latest application adds to our growing range of heating and insulation products for the utilities sector, including chemical dosing line heaters and thermal jackets for pipework and storage vessels.

As such, Inditherm is especially well positioned to help water companies respond to the efficiency challenges posed by the current AMP4 infrastructure programme.'