Page 9 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Aussie Pumps for effluent recycling
RECYCLING effluent from piggeries is good environmental practice and also makes good economic sense.
Piggery effluent will substantially improve pastures with a relatively small investment in infra- structure and equipment of pumps, pits, pipework and sprinkler systems.
Some farms already use up to three or even four pits or ponds that enable the anaerobic bacterial action to break down the nitrates and phosphates in the effluent liquid.
The aim is to produce a liquid in the final pond that is clean and clear enough to be able to pass through irrigation sprin- klers without clogging.
Each individual case is different but the general rule is two or three ponds in a row are satisfactory.
Aussie Pumps has devel- oped a product line that particularly suits this ap- plication.
Combining heavy-duty cast iron self-priming cen- trifugal solids-handling pumps with high-pressure spray pumps means two or three pumps can pro- vide not only the ability to pump effluent, but also high pressure for running irrigation sprinklers.
Self-priming semi-trash pumps
The Aussie GMP range of self-priming centrifu- gal semi-trash pumps provide many operational advantages over electro- submersible or long-col- umn sump-type pumps.
The biggest single fea- ture that gives self-prim- ers the edge is their ability to suck effluent from up to 6.5m depths without the use of foot valves or other external priming devices.
All the operator has to do is make sure the pump bowl is filled with liquid and then turn on the mo- tor.
Self-priming centrifugal pumps also have the major advantage of being locat- ed outside the pit, provid- ing real ease of servicing advantages.
Considering effluent is often corrosive and liter- ally ‘eats’ pumps, this can result in massive cost sav- ings over the life of the pump.
The GMP semi-trash pump line is available in single and three-phase configurations with 2”, 3” and 4” versions.
These cast iron, heavy- duty, self-priming pumps are available with flows of up to 2700l/pm and with
vertical lifts (head) of up to 30m.
That represents a pres- sure rating of around 50psi.
The pumps are of heavy- duty, cast iron construc- tion with big open-style impellers capable of pass- ing solids up to 30mm in diameter.
They have the added ad- vantage of silicon carbide seals for use in pumping abrasive liquids, a stain- less steel wear plate for low-cost product rejuve- nation and an in-built, low-mounted clean-out door that enables the pump to be easily flushed.
The clean-out port is lo- cated below the suction intake.
This means the pump can be unblocked or cleaned without discon- necting pipework.
For ease of serviceabil- ity, self-priming centrifu- gal pumps win out every time over more complicat- ed electro-submersible or long-column, shaft-driven sump pumps.
For areas without suf- ficient three-phase power, bare shaft versions that can be adapted for die- sel engine drive are com- monly used.
An additional variation is a ‘step-up’ gearbox style drive that can be readily adapted for agricultural tractor PTO connection.
Irrigation spray pumps
Aussie GMP irrigation pumps feature heads of up to 75m (100psi) and are suitable for spraying the relatively clear effluent from the final pond.
These big 2”, 3” or 4” high-pressure pumps also self prime, providing ma- jor advantages in conveni- ence and reliability.
The self-priming pump can be put on an auto-start system and can operate without troublesome foot valves.
Additionally, automatic float systems can be adapt- ed for use with the self- priming pump that enable it to turn on automatically when the pit level reaches a certain point and cut out again when the level drops.
The advantage over non- self-priming pumps that have to be primed before use is enormous.
The Aussie GMP range includes self-priming centrifugal high-pressure pumps with open im- pellers that still provide super-high-pressure per- formance.
For example, one of the big 3” pumps in the range can provide flows of up to
1300l/pm and still provide a maximum pressure of 100psi-plus.
Every system needs to be correctly sized to make sure all friction losses have been calculated.
Let a pump specialist or expert help you in select- ing the right product.
Aussie Pumps has a handy guide for pump se- lection.
This includes friction loss calculations, explanations of how to calculate total head and various other fac- tors that make up the pump selection process.
This information and a detailed free brochure describing the full Aus- sie GMP cast iron self- priming centrifugal ef- fluent pump product line is available from Aussie Pumps or distributors throughout Australia.
www.aussiepumps.com. au
Affluent effluent possible for piggeries
☛ from P1
periods of less than three
years have been realised. Since 2012/13, when the Emissions Reduc- tion Fund started, 372,143 ACCUs have been issued to piggery biogas projects, which is 372kt CO2-e of emis- sions abatement and an estimated $4 million of carbon credit sale value to participating produc-
ers.
A Pork CRC-supported
life cycle assessment by Stephen Wiedemann of Integrity Ag Services has predicted that green- house gas emissions of Australia’s pork produc- tion could fall from 3.6kg (in 2010) to near 1.3kg of CO2 equivalents per kil- ogram of pork produced by 2020/21.
Pork CRC consult-
ant and former CEO Dr Roger Campbell be- lieved this was due to the uptake of biogas capture and use from effluent and increasing productivity by the herds and businesses that will represent the industry in 2020/21.
Pork CRC’s Bioenergy Support Program has been a producer-steered technical support pro- gram to enable biogas adoption across the Aus- tralian and New Zealand pork sectors.
The BSP conducted industry-tailored re- search to provide techni- cal know-how for pro- ducers, industry service providers, consultants and regulators to assist in the planning, design, construction, commis- sioning and operation of piggery biogas systems.
The research and tech- nical support of the BSP drew heavily on contri- butions by Pork CRC biogas demonstration piggeries, established as part of the BSP initia- tive.
A recent national pig- gery biogas survey pro-
vided useful data on cur- rent and future biogas adoption interest and statistics, which indi- cated considerable on- going interest in biogas benefits, including from smaller piggeries.
www.porkcrc.com.au
A covered anaerobic pond at a 20,000 standard pig unit grow-out piggery in NSW.
Aussie Pumps heavy-duty cast iron GMP self-priming semi-trash pumps, showing the clean-out port. The port below the suction intake allows the pump to be cleaned or unblocked without disconnecting pipework. www.porknews.com.au
Australian Pork Newspaper, November 2018 – Page 9