Energy use cut by 50 percent at Heathrow Airport pumping station

Energy use cut by 50 percent at Heathrow Airport pumping station

Heathrow Airport’s cargo center has improved the efficiency of a wastewater pumping station thanks to a solution from Xylem. According to a comparison study conducted by Heathrow Airport’s Water Services Department, the installation of Xylem’s Flygt Experior wastewater pumping system has reduced the station’s energy consumption by half and also eliminated the need for maintenance call-outs since its installation in January 2013.

Heathrow Airport first commissioned Xylem to evaluate the airport’s wastewater pumping system in the cargo center area of the airport, which has heavy traffic and non-stop activity on a daily basis. Following the evaluation, Xylem was charged with developing and implementing a reliable and energy-saving wastewater pumping solution.

“With operations running so regularly, it is critical to ensure that systems are run in the most efficient way possible,” says Ian Jolly, director of Heathrow Airport’s Water Services Department.  “As one of the world’s largest and busiest airports, with almost 70 million people travelling through our terminals in 2012, Heathrow is committed to working with innovative, reliable technology to cater for this consistently high passenger traffic.”

Xylem installed two Flygt Experior pumps featuring non-clog technology and two SmartRun intelligent pump controllers, which monitor the specific energy use of the pumps and continually adjust the pump speed to ensure that the minimum amount of energy is being used for all cycles.

In addition to Heathrow Airport, Xylem’s products help keep water flowing throughout London, from Buckingham Palace to the London Underground. Read more about where Xylem’s products are used in London.

For more about this story, read pages 18-19 in the latest issue or World Pumps.

by Simon