50,000 Operating Hours at the Waste Water Treatment Plant Al Aweer in Dubai

It is located virtually in the desert, a free installation on open ground, unprotected against the sand storms which occasionally blow across it; only a shade roof protects it against the heat of the burning sun. And it keeps on running.

Since 1996, the Al Aweer waste water treatment plant in Dubai has been using a CB 505 decanter for dewatering digested sludge. It is the oldest installation from GEA Westfalia Separator Group in the environmental field in the Middle East. This environmental machine has now broken through the barrier of 50,000 operating hours, and doing so right in the middle of the burning hot desert sand. And the operator is still happy with the decanter, because the centrifuge operates under these extreme weather conditions with a continuously good dewatering capacity and low polymer consumption. The operating personnel particularly appreciate the service-friendly nature of the machine, because humans and the machine alike are exposed to the severe desert conditions.

The fact that the configuration now has exceeded 50,000 operating hours is without doubt due to the fact that the Al Aweer waste water treatment plant consistently invests in maintenance, and has suitably trained employees who also receive support, if necessary, from the service team of the GEA Westfalia Separator Group subsidiary in Dubai.

Both large waste water treatment plants treat the waste water of Dubai with the aid of the normal biological treatment method: pre-cleaning, activation (aerobic biological state), subsequent clarification and sludge treatment. In the sludge treatment stage, the sludge which is obtained from the effluent treatment phase is first treated in digestion towers, where the organic components of the sludge are to a large extent broken down under anaerobic conditions, thus reducing the overall quantity of sludge. The digested sewage sludge is then dewatered.

Before GEA Westfalia Separator Group installed the first decanter in 1996, the city of Dubai, in its capacity as the operator of the Al Aweer waste water treatment plant, used alternative technologies to dewater the sewage sludge. However, the benefits of a centrifuge functioning as a closed system with continuous operation and without any problematic odour were convincing. The sludge treatment process in Al Aweer was therefore gradually converted. When the sludge dewatering capacity was extended in 2007, a second UCD 755 decanter was installed in the immediate vicinity of the CA 505.

Today, with its two million inhabitants, the city of Dubai operates two large waste water treatment plants, which together treat a considerable percentage of the city’s waste water. The Al Aweer waste water treatment plant was installed during the 1980s and is designed to handle 260,000 m³ effluent feed per day. The second waste water treatment plant in Jebel Ali, was completed in April 2010. It was designed for a capacity of 150,000 m³ of effluent in the initial phase, and for a capacity of 200,000 m³ effluent per day in the second phase. For this waste water treatment plant, GEA Westfalia Separator Group supplied a further four UCD 755 machines on the basis of the positive experience gained with the decanters in Al Aweer.

The entire region is supported by a separate sales and service company in Dubai, with agencies in the individual countries. The Dubai office (as Middle East headquarters) is responsible for the entire Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In most countries, there are one or more independent service engineers on site, who are responsible for the installed equipment by means of regular inspections and maintenance.

GEA Middle East FZE is today an independent subsidiary of GEA Westfalia Separator Group, and recently celebrated its ten-year anniversary. The boom for environmental centrifuges from GEA Westfalia Separator Group in the region started roughly at the same time as the opening of this office. Today, decanters from GEA Westfalia Separator Group are running at many large waste water treatment plants in the Middle East; for instance in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Qatar and in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Today, virtually 100 machines are operating in the field of environmental technology in the region, for thickening and dewatering municipal and industrial sewage sludge.

However, the oldest machine with the most operating hours is still the “desert decanter” CB 505 in Al Aweer. Conclusion: anybody who looks after a machine in such a way will enjoy the benefits for a long time - even under extreme environmental conditions.