Holistic wastewater system for large-scale agricultural operation
In its latest version from 2017, the AwSV has classified agricultural digestate and leachate as substances hazardous to water. This also places new demands on agricultural wastewater systems. For this purpose, DWA-A 792 was elevated to the rank of a technical rule for substances hazardous to water (TRwS).
The agricultural cooperative Niederpöllnitz eG (founded in 1991) cultivates an area of around 2,600 ha. The main focus is on dairy, fodder, grain and oilseed production. Since 2004, the production of renewable energy has been established as a further branch of the company’s operations via two biogas plants and its own photovoltaic system. This makes the Niederpöllnitz agricultural cooperative one of the largest cooperatives in Thuringia. For these quantities of products, the required equipment must of course be available as part of the dewatering process.
The pending plant expansion of 5 driving silo chambers (approx. 20,000 m³ storage volume) incl. of a leachate tank of 150m³ was commissioned to the Thüringer Landgesellschaft mbH in Erfurt for planning. The total investment was about 1.85 million € and were carried out by RK Landschaftsbau from Dittersdorf.
The choice of the drainage system from the road inlet/separation manhole/chute of the distribution manholes to the welding of the pipe system and the fermentation juice tank was made by SABUG GmbH in Heiden as a complete system.
The required storage volume for silage leachate is 150 m³. Of course, the tank had to meet the requirements of the AwSV and be double-walled, as well as have leak monitoring.
In principle, all SABUG containers made of plastics are designed for live loads of up to SLW 60 (10 t wheel load). The static calculations are carried out depending on the traffic loads, groundwater pressure and installation depth, as a result of which the tanks have the necessary safety against deformation or buckling permanently and safely. In this case, the tank was delivered in two parts due to its size and welded in the prepared excavation pit by SABUG’s own welding team.
The preparation of the weld seam was already prepared in the manufacturing plant in such a way that the perfect fit meant that welding could be carried out quickly and safely. The thickness of the double wall was approx. 25 cm, which makes the container extremely robust.
Despite the high stability of the tank, the weight of the heaviest component was just 9 tons. This meant that a relatively small lifting device could be used for assembly. With the SABUG – IP-plus welding system, all components from the road gully to the tank could be welded completely AwSV-compliant.
In addition, all plants must be approved by AwSV experts to ensure that the requirements of the European Union for the protection of the environment and groundwater can be met.
The company SABUG GmbH from Heiden has already equipped many agricultural plants with tanks and JGS containers made of high-quality, chemically highly resistant polyethylene (PE-HD). These containers can be designed and manufactured according to customer requirements. The solid tank and container systems are characterized by high stability and resistance. A comprehensive quality assurance program ensures excellent quality of each item.