Rotork actuators control wastewater flow at Australian sewage treatment plant

Rotork has announced that its intelligent electric actuators are being used to control penstock gates at a sewage treatment plant (STP) in Australia.

The company’s IQ3 multi-turn electric actuators are installed on eight penstock gate valves, controlling the flow of wastewater entering the plant in Murrumba Downs in Queensland, Australia.

The end user, Unitywater, operates 15 STP sites across Moreton Bay, the Sunshine Coast and Noosa where sewage is treated before being reused or discharged.

Unitywater selected Rotork’s actuators to automate the opening and closing of the penstock gates, which had previously been accessed by a ladder and were hand operated, taking four people a total of six hours to fully open or close the valve.

A number of the IQ3 actuators installed at Murrumba Downs have been fitted with remote hand stations (RHS), enabling local operation of the valves without compromising operator safety.

The RHS uses the same display and controls interface as the IQ3, which allows site operators to carry out operation and configuration at a distance of up to 100 metres from the actuator.

A 24-volt DC power supply is provided via the attached actuator, so no supplementary electricity is required.

Data logs from the actuator can be accessed and downloaded through the RHS using the Rotork Bluetooth Setting Tool, which includes information such as event logs and torque profiles.