Water and Sewage Treatment: Expertise Unlimited
Sean Moran, our Principal Engineer writes this occasional blog about his experiences. Our company (Expertise Limited) design, commission and troubleshoot Sewage, Industrial Effluent and Water Treatment Plant. We provide Process and Hydraulic Design, Staff Training, Review and Audit and Expert Witness Services.
Friday, 12 March 2010
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Thursday, 25 February 2010
Lecturing
After an interview yesterday, I now have a formal contract for lecturing, at Nottingham Trent University. I am continuing with my less formal arrangements at Loughborough and Nottingham Uni.s...
Monday, 22 February 2010
Busier
All of a sudden things are getting busy. I've got an interview on Wednesday to teach more formally at a third University, and I have a number of enquiries for troubleshooting jobs.
Off to see that misbehaving package plant tomorrow, with a possibility of a side visit to upgrade that pharma effluent plant to remove titanium on the way.
Teaching at Notts Uni again on Thursday, I even had an Envirowise enquiry when I came back to my desk.
It's dragging me away from the educational research I was reading for the next MA session, but that's a price I'll just have to pay. LOL!
Monday, 15 February 2010
Package Treatment Plant Problems etc.
We got an enquiry today to help with a misbehaving
Package Sewage Treatment Plant. I used to get at least one of these a month back before the recession hit. I always
relish the challenge. As usual the client is on the brink of prosecution by the EA. No pressure then!
I've got a few
books coming for reviews in the Chemical Engineer Magazine, and I'm finalising the material on solid waste treatment I'm due to deliver at Nottingham University on Wednesday.
I'm also negotiating with two separate clients for delivery of a distance learning
course in
hydraulic design.
Quite busy by recent standards...
Thursday, 28 January 2010
What happens when you let an architect design a pumping station?
Ever wondered what would happen if you abandoned your objections to the architect's artistic vision of the project and gave them free rein?
This is a sewage pumping station as designed by an architect.
More info
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Business as usual II
The
call-out didn't come at 3AM Sunday morning
as predicted, but at noon the previous day. Frost damage had shattered many pipes, several pumps were air-locked, and there were unexpected foreign bodies in the feed which were causing blockages-and of course the buffer tanks were completely full at both sites, and the generators, instrumentation and SCADA system were also misbehaving.
It took half a day to patch things up, clear the blockages and airlocks, and get both plants running at top speed again to shift the melt-water.
Labels: emergency callout, groundwater, plant, treatment
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Teaching/Bits and Bats
I've been asked to be on high alert for problems with the Manchester groundwater treatment plants, but experience suggests that they never fail during the working week. I'm expecting the callout Sunday morning 3AM. Luckily I love an
emergency.
I've received all sorts of exciteable emails from Invent Water Features/Invent Water Treatment's other creditors this last week, including solicitor's letters, threats of reporting to the DTI and so on.
I'd be a lot more excited if they owed me more than the £650 I'm down, and if I thought that it wasn't too apparent what happened to all of the company's assets and director's loans as the emails tell me it isn't.
Labels: emergency callout, Invent Water Features, Invent Water Treatment
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Business as usual
Called out again over the break, had a great drive over the Peak on empty frozen roads to Manchester to repair freezing damage to a groundwater treatment plant. This is why I have a Land Rover and snowchains-365 day call-out, weather not a factor. All went well, and we had a fine kebab on the way home.
Other than that, ploughing through Educational Research papers ready for the start of my MA-they are so sloppy compared with real science!
Invent Water Features creditor's meeting is in Bicester tomorrow, a long way away from all of the people up North who they owe money to. I hear official investigations of the directors and receivers are to be requested. People are unhappy.
Labels: Invent Water Features, Invent Water Treatment
Monday, 28 December 2009
The Big Freeze
I was called out on Christmas Eve through the freezing fog to a groundwater treatment plant supposedly frozen solid. Four bags of rock salt and a fair bit of persistence by myself and an assistant allowed us to get the plant back up and running, an outcome the client had thought vanishingly unlikely. Most satisfying.
Happy New Year from all here.
Monday, 21 December 2009
Xmas Break
Coming up to the Christmas break, with only a bit of coursework and some babysitting of a
groundwater treatment plant to do over the next couple of weeks.
Merry Xmas from all here...
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Lean times
Only two tenders in the European Journal for the whole of the UK today, as opposed to the normal count of around 50. We aren't out of the recession yet!
I've been teaching and had a call-out to problems at a groundwater treatment plant in Manchester, but work has been pretty quiet overall. We are tendering for some new public sector work, and hope to fill any gaps with some bread and butter consultancy. We are not too worried, as teaching is proving time-consuming enough at present.
It looks like I'm not going to be getting better than 40p in the pound from Invent Water Features' unpaid debt, and even that is based on some pretty optimistic expectations of repayment of their own outstanding debts.
Labels: Invent Water Features, Invent Water Treatment
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Invent Water Features
A long-time client,
Invent Water Features are in receivership, owing us a bit of money. Just as well we weren't relying on them to keep us afloat. Things are clearly still tough in the UK economy.
Labels: Invent Water Features, Invent Water Treatment, Receivership
Emergency Callout Groundwater Treatment
A
call-out to a groundwater treatment plant earlier in the week showed a few interesting problems. "Dirty" power from a failing generator caused the failure of a single instrument (a Siemens Hydroranger), but the knock-on effect was total plant failure.
The software programmer had "interpreted" the requirements of the Functional Design Specification in such a way that this instrument became critical for plant operation. This was especially annoying as there was a backup instrument working on a more robust principle, but no way to switch plant operation over to this alternative instrument without a programmer on site.
Of course at the point where I was called, the working day was coming to an end, the plant's feed lagoon was on the point of overtopping, and it was raining.
I love a challenge!
Naturally there was an expedient way to get the plant to go again, but the fix was a little questionable. I consequently thought it best to connect a web-cam into the system so that I could see and hear what was going on remotely, as well as being able to see what the SCADA shows. All is now well with the plant.
Labels: emergency callout, groundwater, treatment, troubleshooting
Anaerobic Digestion Lecturing
I gave my first unattended University lecture yesterday, a seminar on
Anaerobic Digestion, which seemed to go well enough. We'll see when I get the feedback questionnaires how well.
Labels: anaerobic, digestion, lecturing
Thursday, 5 November 2009
More of the same...
I'm finishing the materials to be used in my anaerobic digestion course for Loughborough today, and preparing for a visit to Nottingham next week to see their first-years in action in a field experiment.
I've upgraded my teaching course to an MA, as there is little point in doing initial teacher training to teach in Higher Education. We learn as we go...
I got some interesting results from the laboratory trial of various coagulants for the pharmaceutical effluent treatment plant. Note floating sludge and reduced clarity in left-hand cylinder.
The best coagulant tested is around 1/10 the price of what is being used at the moment. It works better in the lab, but experience tells me that until we trial it on the plant, no firm conclusions can be drawn.
There is an added complication that the client has signed up for a long-term contract with a chemical supplier, so unless they can provide an equivalent product, there will be some serious contractual wrangling to be done. Rather them than me!
Monday, 12 October 2009
Troubleshooting, Teaching , and so on
I've been quite busy with learning to teach, but I went down to see a plant I upgraded about a year ago last Friday for a "health check".
As it took the operators three-quarters of an hour to even find the O+M manual, it looked as if it hadn't seen much use. The recommended daily checks had been reduced to a quick look through the fence as they went past, and no checks at all on weekends or holidays. They had turned the coagulant dose right down and filled the plant with 32% acid and alkali to save on chemical costs, and unsupervised tanker drivers had been walking on the tray-work. Despite all of this, everything was still basically working.
I'm going to do a bit of lab-work this afternoon to see if they can use a cheaper coagulant than the fancy blend the original plant installers recommended. At £2 a litre, I can see how they want to turn the dose down, even if it does degrade plant performance.
I'm off to Nottingham this morning to see a few examples of good lecturing practice, and if I have time, I'm going to make a start on the anaerobic digestion course I'm doing for Loughborough.
Labels: effluent, industrial, plant, treatment, troubleshooting
Saturday, 12 September 2009
Teaching
A quiet month so far, other than getting confirmation that I will be able to teach at Nottingham University as well as Loughborough as part of my formal training as a lecturer.
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
Lecturing
Picked up some lecturing work at Loughborough Uni.'s Engineering Dept. yesterday, which will give me an opportunity to practice the teaching skills I will learn in the diploma course I start in September.
I've got an interview at another relatively local University next month to see if I can pick up a little more, I need at least 75 hours of UK based teaching time per year for the practical bit of the teaching course.
Monday, 17 August 2009
Sewage Treatment Plant Operation and Maintenace
Looks like we will be delivering the
Sewage Treatment Plant Operation and Maintenance course in London come November. Spaces are available.
It will be being run two-handed between myself and a colleague who spent 20 years as a municipal plant manager and trade waste officer, so there will be a very practical slant.
Will have started the teaching course by then, so there will be an opportunity to integrate what I have learned into preparation of the course material.
Monday, 3 August 2009
Sudan, and continuing work
Talking to someone about giving a course in Sudan in September. I won't be flying with the local airlines. They can
crash without even getting off the runway.
Other than that, things are ticking over nicely. On site in Manchester a fair bit, water feature design on-going, discussions with Universities with respect to teaching continuing...
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I'm finishing the materials to be used in my anaerobic digestion course for Loughborough today, and preparing for a visit to Nottingham next week to see their first-years in action in a field experiment.
