The ALPHAMETER® represents “state of the art” monitoring of process parameters.
The INVENT ALPHAMETER® is the new standard in oxygen control and opens the door to a new world in aeration system control. It helps achieve substantial energy savings. The INVENT ALPHAMETER® combines liquid and gas phase measurements to develop real-time measurement of key parameters for biological process and aeration control.
Advantages
- Eliminates iterative procedures (Trial & Error)
- Direct determination of airflow requirements
- Increased stability allows lowering of target set points
- Instant knowledge of system oxygen transfer characteristics and distribution
- Off-Gas is already a final product of the process. The information collected allows real-time knowledge of process variables and conditions, eliminating the effect of process inertia.
- Increased energy savings
The ALPHAMETER® monitors and reports:
- Aeration System Oxygen Transfer Efficiency (OTE)
- Process Oxygen Uptake Rate (OUR)
- Mixed Liquor Value
Alphameter Principles
Key Knowledge Factors:
- Increased process control & stability
- Continuous real-time monitoring of aeration process parameters
- Real-time reporting of aeration system health and performance
- Information about hazardous events influencing AS system
How it works
The ALPHAMETER® combines liquid phase measurements of parameters such as mixed liquor DO (dissolved oxygen) or temperature with gas phase measurements of the composition of the gas leaving the aeration basin surface (Off-gas). The relative difference in oxygen content of the gas entering the tank and the Off-gas leaving the tank surface allows measurement of the oxygen transfer efficiency of the aeration system.
This data is processed in the ALPHAMETER® PLC and is combined with the aeration system clean water performance data, the system operating conditions, and the site ambient conditions to determine the biological process OUR and mixed liquor oxygen transfer characteristics.
The ALPHAMETER® allows a quantitative approach to aeration system control by providing real-time measurement of process oxygen demand (OUR) and parameters affecting oxygen transfer. Combined knowledge of the amount of oxygen required to fulfill process needs and all the parameters affecting oxygen transfer allows the ALPHAMETER to determine the exact amount of air required to meet both biological process and operator control needs, thus eliminating all trial and error, iterative and tuning based control algorithms.
This direct approach greatly reduces aeration control response time allowing more accurate control. This results in increased system stability and significant energy savings.