The innovative use of collaboration and digital engineering tools to protect London’s water supply by a Cork-based engineering company, and a project born to life in Galway to reduce its customers’ carbon footprint by one gigaton by 2030, are among six projects to be recognised by Engineers Ireland and ESB in a newly unveiled Engineering Excellence Digital Series.
Here, we take the the opportunity to recognise the two winning projects and those who were awarded highly commended status in the Engineering Innovation and Sustainability category.
Winners
The ADVANCER Project by Thermo King and Trane Technologies – a disruptive reimagining of the trailer refrigeration unit
Thermo King – by Trane Technologies, a global climate innovator – is a worldwide leader in sustainable transport temperature control solutions. Their refrigeration and temperature control products are responsible for protecting sensitive cargo from the food we eat to pharmaceuticals, vaccines and much more.
In response to their parent company’s 2030 sustainability aspirations, and the commitment to reduce their customers’ CO2e emissions by one gigaton by 2030 – equivalent to 2% of the world's annual emissions or, the annual emissions of France, Italy & UK combined - Thermo King responded with the introduction of ADVANCER, a disruptive new re-imagining of the trailer refrigeration unit.
Built with ambitious sustainability goals at its core, ADVANCER was born to life in Thermo King’s manufacturing site in Galway through the use of all-new Mild Hybrid electrified architecture that creates a new standard for performance, fuel efficiency, temperature control and environmental sustainability. This architecture enables paradigm shifting fuel efficiency which is at least 30% lower than the market average. This combined with the unrivalled electrical efficiencies contributes to over 50% reduction in overall emissions and CO2 footprint.
Additionally, the ADVANCER product is built on a new world class sustainable assembly line that has reduced its energy consumption by 60%, utilising 100% renewable energy. This Galway-based assembly line is now on track to become the first Carbon Neutral assembly line in the sector.
Coppermills Water Treatment Works New Roughing Filters – The innovative use of collaboration and digital engineering tools to protect London’s water supply by Irish engineering company, EPS Group
Founded upon 52 years of operating experience, EPS Group has grown from an electrical and pumping services business in to an innovative, internationally exporting group, headquartered in Mallow, Co. Cork and focused upon the water and wastewater and clean technology sectors.
Coppermills Water Treatment Works is located in north London adjacent to the Walthamstow Wetlands, a 300-acre reservoir system providing approximately one third of London’s drinking water.
Challenges to the supply of water from Coppermills were identified by Thames Water with effective capacity being reduced during periods of algal bloom. These periods of bloom placed an increased workload on the existing 24 rapid gravity filters within the treatment works, which in turn could restrict output to 380 Million of Litres Per Day (MLD), limiting headroom in the London supply demand balance.
As a solution it was decided to build an additional 12 rapid gravity filters to augment the existing infrastructural capacity on site. The overall project was co-ordinated by SMB as part of the eight2o delivery alliance and collaboration was supported by EPS/MWH through their MEPS JV.
EPS Group undertook the concept design, production and off-site construction of 12 filter flumes in stainless steel to provide 200MLD capacity, using an off-site ethos to maximum effect while massively reducing health and safety risks when compared with traditional construction methods.
This 18-month programme of work and off-site approach saved £6 million in preliminaries, in addition to a 40% reduction in carbon. A total of 3,400 tonnes of pre-cast concrete was installed in 18 weeks; with zero temporary works or formwork and zero accidents on site.
Highly Commended
Sam Dennigan 1.5MW Solar PV Array by Enerpower
Sam Dennigan, a shipping company with cold storage facilities for fresh produce, engaged Enerpower to engineer, procure and construct a Solar PV Array that could help the organisation reduce their energy consumption, carbon foot print and the environmental impact of their food transport business in line with Ireland’s renewable energy goals.
The project started with an energy audit followed by investigations and preliminary designs into different Green Energy Technologies, which culminated in the selection of a 1.5MW Solar PV Array which was installed on the organisaton’s existing warehouse roof in North County Dublin.
This EPC project carried out by Enerpower came in on time, under budget and to date is exceeding its current modelling predictions, with an estimated savings of 388,000kg of CO2 per year, in addition to lower energy costs for the client. Completed in September 2020, Sam Dennigan 1.5MW Solar PV Array by Enerpower is currently the largest Solar PV Array in Ireland.
Expansion of Wastewater Treatment Plant Capacity at Rothera Research Station, Antarctica: Using Digital Design and Off-Site Delivery to De-Risk Projects in Remote Locations by EPS Water
Rothera Research Station is the largest Antarctic research facility operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). It is located approximately 1,000 miles south of the Chilean port of Punta Arenas.
The station operates all year, with over 100 personnel in the summer months, reducing to a skeleton staff of only 22 in winter. The environment is extreme, with highly variable weather conditions throughout the year and winter temperatures frequently at -20°C or lower.
Incremental growth in the staffing levels at the station had led to the overloading of the existing wastewater treatment plant and, with the commencement of construction work on site for a new shipping wharf to accommodate the RRS Sir David Attenborough, additional treatment capacity was required.
By selecting the most appropriate technology and using the latest digital design and integration techniques, EPS created a pre-assembled and factory tested solution which was successfully installed to meet the future needs of the research facility.
Osberstown Sludge Treatment Facility by Veolia
Veolia successfully increased the capacity of the Osberstown Wastewater Treatment Plant for Kildare County Council and Irish Water so that it now serves a population equivalent of 360,000 people and numerous local industries. Following this success, the Veolia team were tasked with the challenge of upgrading the adjacent Osberstown Sludge Treatment Facility. This facility processes all wastewater sludge for County Kildare.
Veolia’s ground-breaking approach to the project combined innovative technologies to deliver Advanced Anaerobic Digestion to create an energy self-sufficient Sludge Treatment Facility that reduced CO2 emissions by more than 8,000 tonnes per annum; formed a ‘blueprint’ for sustainable Phosphorus re-use well into the future and created huge savings, including a saving of circa €9M of CAPEX ensuring the viability of the project and €2M per annum (at design loading) of OPEX. The project also delivered substantial energy savings that will allow the equivalent of over 2,700 households to be provided with thermal energy from natural gas.
To view the six part Engineering Excellence Digital Series, held in association with ESB and supported by Accenture and Geoscience Ireland, visit: www.engineersireland.ie