At the beginning of October, process water and recycling specialist ProWaTech hosted a cross-border expert workshop on the topic of "conserving resources" in Glattfelden near Schaffhausen. Around 50 participants from the medical technology, watchmaking and electronics industries as well as from wet-chemical surface treatment contractors attended. In addition to PraWaTech sales manager and Galvanotechnik advisory board member Herbert Hauser, Galvanotechnik editor-in-chief Robert Piterek also gave a welcoming address, encouraging the Swiss electroplating specialists to make greater use of Galvanotechnik magazine as an information and B2B platform.
Wastewater plants from the perspective of plant constructors and operators
Specialist speaker Joel Noser, Head of Design at ProWaTech, then spoke about the realization of a wastewater plant from the perspective of the plant constructor. Based on the realization of an ion exchanger cycle and wastewater
cleaning system at Promatverzinkerei Bern, he described the project execution from the design perspective. He showed views of the layout in three-dimensional space. The sustainability of plant construction begins with the selection of components such as frequency-controlled pumps, gearbox agitators or the consideration of local suppliers as well as the design of short pipe lengths. Patrick Zbinden, owner of W. Hänni AG in Aegerten and the Promat galvanizing plant in Bern, where the ProWaTech systems are used, then showed what this looks like in practice. He introduced the company, which was founded in 1961 and galvanizes with zinc, nickel and zinc-nickel. The company invested a total of 3.1 million Swiss francs in a new hall with a zinc-nickel system and a new waste water system, which was installed by ProWaTech in around 9 months.
The economical use of resources
Herbert Hauser, ProWaTech/Hauser + Walz, spoke next about the economical use of energy, chemicals and water resources. He began by describing preventive measures to reduce and avoid waste water, which have a higher priority than disposal. Measures to reduce electrolyte carryover and extend the service life of process baths were explained. Physical recycling processes such as electrolysis, evaporators, evaporators, cation exchangers, centrifuges, ultrafiltration and crystallizers were presented. Practical examples of electrically operated pumps, chromic acid cleaning, copper electrolysis and optimization of chemical wastewater treatment were used to present concrete cost savings.
Prevention of occupational/environmental damage
Thomas Müller, environmental engineer at Gsell Sicherheit GmbH, addressed the topic of preventing occupational and environmental damage. He presented practical examples of accidents at work as well as hazards in plants and pointed out the specific obligations of employers and employees.
Sustainability at Georg Fischer
In the afternoon, Dominik Roth from Georg Fischer AG (GF) opened the session with the topic of sustainability in plastic piping systems. GF Piping Systems is a leading provider of flow solutions for the transportation of gases and liquids with a turnover of 2.2 billion Swiss francs in 2022 and 8085 employees worldwide. The sustainability strategy 2025 includes a reduction of theCO2 footprint, sustainability in product development and raising awareness for the responsibility of supply chains. GF uses bio-attributed PVC, in which the crude oil is partly replaced by bio-based tall oil. This leads to aCO2 reduction of 90% of the bio-based resin compared to fossil crude oil. The PVDF material produced in the "Ultrapure Water Application" (UPW) in the pharmaceutical industry is to be used for new PVDF pipes and fittings. He presented several projects that have been realized with ProWaTech AG.
Countercurrent regeneration for water softening systems
Peter Spiegl and René Fink from Karl Spiegl. shared the presentation on the topic of saving operating costs in pure water systems. Spiegl. is an extended workbench for system suppliers such as ProWaTech AG. Spiegl and Fink presented counter-current regeneration in water softening systems. The sensor-controlled monitoring of the load leads to approx. 25 % savings in operating resources and automatic adjustment to the fluctuating raw water hardness. The retentate-staged reverse osmosis for pure water production increases the permeate yield from 75 to 90 %. This means that 220 liters of fresh water and wastewater are saved per m3 of pure water compared to conventional reverse osmosis systems.
Mechanical wastewater pre-treatment
Markus Sameli is a member of the management team and sales manager for western Switzerland and abroad at EnviroChemie AG. He presented industrial wastewater treatment with compact systems and modular system components and described the possibilities of mechanical pre-treatment of wastewater, such as sludge traps or oil separators. EnviroChemie AG offers standardized and modular compact systems.
Augmented reality in wastewater technology
The event was rounded off with a live demo on the topic of "Augmented Reality (AR)". First, Benno Fiechter from Eltromatic AG gave an overview of the latest trends in automation. He then presented the redesign of wastewater batch treatments. A new software module was developed to automate and refine redox reactions and organosulphide precipitation using "titration controllers". This saves on wastewater treatment chemicals. Ivano Isepponi, Technical Manager at Eltromatic AG, demonstrated AR with a test device using a smartphone to film an ion exchanger circuit and wastewater treatment plant. A visual "data panel" appears with all the necessary information on the respective system or component. All information on the operating status is shown, such as conductance, flow rate or circuit type. ProWaTech intends to use this technology in plant construction soon, as Herbert Hauser reported. Arnaud Kropp from Softec AG also showed digital content with smartphones and explained the function of augmented reality using a coffee machine. A video on the topic of augmented reality for an electroplating system can be seen on the homepage www.softec.de. Augmented reality is used to guide employees, to provide an overview of maintenance information, for more efficient maintenance or faster response in the event of faults.
