Storage Hopper with Live Bottom Screw Feeder and Thermal Processors Sludge Drying System at Wyomissing Valley Treatment Plant in Reading, PA

End User or Owner

Joint Municipal Authority of Wyomissing Valley
Berks County, PA

Consulting Engineer

Arro Consulting, Inc.
Reading, PA

Contractor

Klipper Construction Associations, Inc.
Yardley, PA

General Description

The Wyomissing Valley Treatment Plant is located at the juncture of the Wyomissing Creek and the Schuylkill River in Reading, PA and has a treatment capacity of 4 million gallons per day. The plant services the surrounding area of Berks County and is owned by the Joint Municipal Authority of Wyomissing Valley of Berks County, PA.

The municipal authority needed to reduce the amount of sludge being hauled off. Like many waste water treatment facilities, the costs for hauling and landfilling sludge was excessive with yearly costs over $125,000.00. With assistance from Arro Consulting, Komline-Sanderson and KWS Environmental, the plant was upgraded with a sludge drying and product load out system. The Komline Sanderson dryer system provided a reduction in solids and significant removal of water, resulting in a yearly reduction from 7,000 to 200 tons of material. The dried material was a pellet that could be beneficially used as a fertilizer. The costs savings per year quickly overcome the cost of the upgrade to the plant.

Design Parameters

Product Type: Municipal Dewatered Sludge and Dried Sludge Pellets
Material Density: 40 to 65 Lbs. per Cubic Foot
Capacity: 500 Cubic Feet per Hour
Duty: 24 Hours per Day, 7 Days per Week

KWS - Storage Hopper with Live Bottom Screw Feeder

KWS Advantages

KWS and Komline Sanderson worked closely together to develop an efficient solution for converting dewatered sludge into dried sludge pellets that could be repurposed as fertilizer. Komline Sanderson has extensive experience in sludge drying and their drying technology is used worldwide. KWS Environmental brought bulk material handling experience to the project by providing a sludge storage hopper and live bottom feeder for storing and metering dewatered sludge for the dryer infeed system. KWS also supplied multiple screw conveyors for conveying and cooling the dried sludge pellets after discharge from the dryer. The dried sludge pellets exited the dryer at approximately 300-degrees F. KWS Environmental provided thermal processors to cool the pellets to 120-degrees F or less while conveying the material to load out.

Special Features

KWS designed the storage hopper for maximum storage volume with steep walls, leveling screw, and a live bottom screw feeder. The steep hopper walls prevent sludge from accumulating and blocking the flow of the material. The leveling screw distributed the sludge fully across the length of the hopper, maximizing the usable volume of the hopper. The live bottom screw feeder accurately controlled the discharge rate to the dryer. The feeder screws were designed with ribbon flighting to prevent clogging and kicker paddles to effectively discharge the material. All of the KWS Environmental equipment was constructed from 304 stainless steel.

The KWS Environmental thermal processors were specifically designed to reduce the dried sludge pellet temperature from 300 to below 120-degrees F. Processor surface area, retention time and heat transfer media flow rate were all parameters that were critical to the design. KWS Environmental has the engineering skill and manufacturing expertise and to design and build thermal processors for almost any application. Special consideration was taken to account for the elevated temperature of the material. High temperature resistant materials for seals and gaskets were used to prevent leakage of pellets or dust. All bearings and drive units were located away from the heat to prevent failure or down time.