Fri, 09/01/2017 - 11:02

One way that utilities can meet increasing demands from a growing population, is data based automation that makes production more energy efficient. This will cut costs and make production more environmentally friendly. “Many American utilities operate with outdated equipment that is very energy consuming and hard to maintain. Often American water treatment-plants operate on full capacity 24/7, even though they may only need to use three quarters of this capacity. This results in an inefficient and costly operation,” says Ilse Korsvang, head of Danish Water Technology Group, Denmark’s largest network for suppliers to the water industry and organizer of the Pavilion of Denmark at WEFTEC. “By investing in new equipment, that can regulate capacity according to demand, American utilities will be able to cut energy consumption and thereby costs – and become more environmentally friendly at the same time,” she continues. The five Danish companies exhibiting at WEFTEC can solve a wide range of issues related to water distribution and wastewater treatment, including making processes more energy efficient and environmental friendly. 50 percent savings on control system One of the companies is LINAK, a Danish supplier of actuators. LINAK provides actuators that can automatically open and close valves while collecting data at water treatment facilities. “As of now, American utilities have equipment for opening and closing valves, but it is large and bulky. Our actuators are smaller and more energy efficient, which makes them easier to maintain. Case studies in Denmark has shown that our actuators can provide savings on control systems of up to 50 percent,” says Jordan Emily, marketing specialist at LINAK U.S. Inc. “Furthermore, our actuators are operated automatically as opposed to manually, which is what most utilities do now. This is an important step towards automation, where valves are operated centrally to make all systems cooperate better and thus save energy and cost on the entire operation,” Emily says. LINAK will be showing their actuators at WEFTEC 2017 in Chicago. Find the company at the Pavilion of Denmark, booth 6721.