Revolutionary energy efficiency: CYBERFLOW®-Accelerator optimizes racetrack basins

In recirculation applications, horizontal flow generators for racetrack basins move the wastewater horizontally in a circuit and at the same time prevent sedimentation of activated sludge flocs. The CYBERFLOW®-Accelerator is the first horizontal mixer for racetrack basins which has been consistently designed and optimized based on fluid mechanical considerations. In this context, the interaction of the flow with the entire machine was considered. This approach focuses on optimizing all aspects for the design and application Including installation location and position, flow direction, upstream and downstream flow and design of the base construction. In addition to the propeller design, these items play an important role in the overall level of efficiency of a horizontal flow generator.

Flow direction

Conventional flow generators possess a direction of flow where the upstream flow is on the drive side. As a result, a turbulent and swirled flow hits the propeller and consequently results in high efficiency losses for the entire unit.

The high-performance propeller of the CYBERFLOW®-Accelerator is hit by a completly undisturbed upstream flow, thereby achieving much higher flow speeds with less energy input than conventional flow generators because efficiency losses due to disturbed upstream flows are avoided completely.

Vortex-free downstream flow

The integral fluid mechanical design of the CYBERFLOW®-Accelerator incorporates a so called “anti-vortex” base frame design which streamlines the flow and takes out the vortex induced by  the propeller movement. This effect is supported by the additional “anti-vortex” fin on the back of the power train resulting in energy recovery by converting radial and tangential velocity components into actual axial flow.

With this intelligent design, it is possible for the first time to recover energy which is otherwise lost into energy dissipation. This design feature makes a considerable difference and severely contributes to the high energy efficiency of the entire machine.

INVENT Power Trim Technology®

More efficient than the indeed horizontally pump of conventional flow accelerators is to angle the drive shaft slightly so that the flow is aligned slightly upwards. This can greatly reduce friction – and therefore prevent energy-losses at the bottom of the tank. We call this alignment of the flow, which we chose depending on the application at hand, “INVENT Power Trim Technology®“ and this design optimization alone improves efficiency by up to 10 %.

Fluid-mechanically optimized base frame

In the design of the base frame, the CYBERFLOW®-Accelerator eliminates the use of standard rectangular tubes with unnecessarily high cw-values completely. Only rigid sheet metal structures with a small cross-section, minimized surface and small cw-values are used. This made it possible to create the base frame with the most streamlined design in the market.

Propeller design

The specific shape of the CYBERFLOW®-Accelerator propeller design was developed and optimized in the INVENT flow laboratories in Erlangen, Germany using state-of-research facilities, measuring technology and simulation methods specifically for use in activated sludge basins in wastewater treatment. This resulted in a smooth and efficient propeller geometry. A further aim was to find a robust, durable, light and flexible, structural mechanical design. The result was a propeller structure made of glass- and carbon fibre-reinforced plastic in a  sandwich design which can be used even in the most heavyduty municipal and industrial applications.

In result, the INVENT propeller design is superior to all conventional propeller designs in the market, irrespective of the number of blades used in the comparison propellers. INVENT uses an especially well-balanced two- and four-blade design.

Fluid mechanical laboratory

INVENT maintains a fully equipped fluid mechanical laboratory, pilot scale plants, and large scale test facilities at its headquarters in Erlangen in Germany. This enables INVENT to carry out all research and development work in-house with its own team of fluid mechanical specialists.

The CYBERFLOW®-Accelerator introduces a revolutionary overall concept, leading to efficiency improvements of up to 30%, depending on the individual case. After twelve successful years in the market, the CYBERFLOW®-Accelerator takes center stage at IFAT 2024 with an exclusive product video. The premiere of the brand-new video will take place on Monday, May 13th at 2 p.m. at the INVENT booth 327/426 in Hall A2. Come by and watch the video!