Sewage Treatment Plant Neufinsing

LED lighting on the digester and revitalization basin

Resistant to moisture, heat, cold and temperature fluctuations, age resistant to UV irradiation, robust against mechanical stress, explosion-proof in certain environments, generally reliable, long lasting and efficient – such are the essential criteria from the extensive requirement specification that luminaires for sewage treatment plants must meet. Luminaire manufacturer NORKA is well versed in these requirements and knows how to meet them with confidence. The lighting specialist for areas with harsh operating conditions and a high need for safety has recently demonstrated this at the Neufinsing sewage treatment plant east of Munich.

In view of the booming municipalities and in order to remain up-to-date with the latest technology, VEMO is focusing on the expansion and continuous modernisation of the Neufinsing sewage treatment plant. A recent project, for example, was the installation of a new scraper bridge over the clarifier. Another measure was the renewal of the lighting in several areas. “The luminaires were installed for various purposes,” explains Markus Mayer, Head of VEMO Sewage Treatment Plant Operating Technology. “With some, we replaced old light points, for example, at the top of the digestion, whilst others were used for first-time installation, for instance, on the new scraper bridge.”

“A particularly careful selection of products was required for the lighting of the plateau at the top of a digestion tank,” explains Christoph Henne of NORKA trade representative Doerner, which supervised the project on site. “Methane gas is extracted from sewage sludge in the tank, which meant that the luminaires had to be designed to be explosion-proof. With WEINHEIM, NORKA offers a family of luminaires that can be used in areas with explosive atmospheres according to Zones 1, 2, 21 and 22.”
For this purpose, the WEINHEIM luminaires are equipped, among other things, with an encapsulated electronic ballast, and, when the lamp diffuser is opened, an automatic voltage interruption occurs. A two-lamp WEINHEIM variant (2 x 18 watts) was installed on the parapet around the digestion tank platform. With a luminous flux of 2,700 lumen and a wide beam light distribution, six units were sufficient for the entire platform. An additional light point was only added in the form of an explosion-proof BASEL LED luminaire (1,740 lumen, 15 watts) above the access door to the platform. This type of protective tubular luminaire is impact-resistant and fume-proof, as well as fulfilling protection rating IP67.

With luminaires from the NORKA range, the wide variety of illumination tasks in the Neufinsing sewage treatment plant were able to be solved ideally. The products have the right technical features for the harsh operating conditions, whilst convincing with their efficiency and high light quality. They were also able to qualify for the project through their ease of assembly. The ready-to-connect delivery and simple wiring saved a lot of time during installation. Thanks to the multi-variety luminaire dimensions that NORKA has at hand, the building specifications, such as the geometry of the railings and infill masonry on the scraper bridge, could be met.

As a result, the illumination in the sewage treatment plant could be renewed during operation without any problems and to the satisfaction of the customer. Markus Mayer sums up: “The light works reliably as a building block in the VEMO strategy to develop an innovative sewage treatment plant within existing facilities, which guarantees the security of supply for citizens, companies and institutions.”