Ikast, December 2023
At Ikast-Brande Spildevand, Operations Assistant and Technician Henrik Mathiesen is constantly working on optimizing operations and extending the lifespan of the plant. And the challenges with the old tilting adjustment solution were getting still more troublesome. Henrik explains: "For a long time, it's been an annoying solution, but I haven't been able to come up with an alternative. So, I contacted Aquagain – we have a good collaboration on service and optimization".
LINAK® is industry approved
LA36 in bracket seen from above.Rune Christiansen, Service Manager at Aquagain, was up for the task. He already had good experience using LINAK actuators for adjustments elsewhere in the industry: "When we recommend actuators for a project, LINAK is an obvious choice. In general, we experience very high customer satisfaction when we deliver a solution with LINAK, so it was only natural to offer Ikast-Brande Spildevand a solution with LINAK actuators", Rune explains.
Aquagain is a modern metalworking business that a.o. provides project-related solutions for the wastewater industry. Besides offering LINAK for this type of optimization task, they also recommend LINAK actuators for larger new builds, modernization tasks and valve builds.
Henrik from Ikast-Brande Spildevand did not know LINAK from the industry: "I thought LINAK was mainly for height-adjustable desks, so I had my doubts. But I asked around, and my colleagues from Faaborg Treatment Plant told me that they were very satisfied with LINAK. Their solution had been running well and without any problems for a long time. When I heard that, I dared to choose a solution with LINAK actuators".
A resilient new solution
Aquagain came up with a solution where each tilting weir was equipped with an LA36 actuator and associated WCU controller. After some customization of the first prototype from Aquagain, they were ready to install the 14 new adjustment solutions on the tilting weirs in Ikast. The LINAK actuators now run several times a day to regulate the water level in the process tank. "So far, we are very satisfied, and the solution is running as it should. We were quite excited to see how the actuators would react during the first hard frost, but there were no problems, so we don't expect to touch them for many years to come", Henrik concludes.
The solution has extended the lifespan of that part of the system, and Henrik can look forward to fewer worries about breakdowns and service costs: "With the old solution, a brass nut had to be replaced once every year. It took an hour for each tilting weir, plus the cost of the nut – and still we had breakdowns between service inspections, and the gears froze in the winter".
The actuator solution on the tilting weirs in Ikast.More actuators in the future
Henrik is always looking for ways to optimize the plant: "Things need to be replaced or optimized on an ongoing basis. Before my experience with LINAK, I only considered the more traditional solutions, but now I will also consider LINAK products for future projects”.
Rune also has a positive outlook on the future: "The communication between LINAK, Aquagain and Ikast-Brande Spildevand has been really good, and Ikast-Brande Spildevand got a great solution. It confirms to me, once again, that integrating LINAK actuators in solutions at wastewater treatment plants can indeed be recommended".
