Vogelsang’s rotary lobe pumps excel in challenging sludge applications featuring high solids content, thick and viscous sludges, and abrasive liquids. Designed with maintenance in mind, these pumps allow easy access to the entire wet end by removing the front cover, enabling convenient routine or preventative maintenance. Plus, their wear parts can be replaced without disturbing connected piping, ensuring minimal downtime.

These pumps offer remarkable versatility, effortlessly handling various liquids, including viscous, abrasive, and shear-sensitive materials. With their gentle pumping action and capacity to manage even the most difficult substances, Vogelsang rotary lobe pumps are invaluable in municipal and industrial water and wastewater applications.

Rotary lobe pumps offer several advantages in handling municipal wastewater sludge:

• Handling Viscous Materials: Municipal wastewater sludge is often highly viscous. Rotary lobe pumps can handle high-viscosity fluids effectively, ensuring smooth pumping even with thick sludge.
• Abrasion Resistance: Rotary lobe pumps handle abrasive materials, due to robust construction with durable materials, non-contacting design with fewer friction points, and low operating speeds, leading to longer pump life and reduced maintenance costs.
• Efficiency: Rotary lobe pumps are known for their high efficiency and consistent performance. They can maintain a steady flow rate even when pumping sludge with varying viscosity.
• Twisted Lobes: Unlike conventional straight lobes, Vogelsang’s HiFlo® lobes ensure pulsation-free pumping and consequently longer lifetimes for the drive and coupling. At the same time, the suction capacity is increased due to the higher number of sealing lines.
• Easy Maintenance: Rotary lobe pumps have simple and robust designs, making them easy to maintain. Components can be quickly accessed and replaced, minimizing downtime and maintenance costs.
• Non-Leaking: Rotary lobe pumps have features that ensure the pumps are sealed to prevent leaks, ensuring containment of hazardous or odorous sludge.
• Variable Speed Operation: Rotary lobe pumps can operate at variable speeds, allowing for precise control over the flow rate. This feature is valuable in wastewater treatment plants with varying sludge flow requirements.
• Small Footprint: Rotary lobe pumps have a smaller footprint than other types of pumps, especially considering their flow capacity. This compact design makes them advantageous in situations where space is limited.
• Self-Priming: Rotary lobe pumps are self-priming, meaning they can evacuate air from the suction line and create a strong vacuum, allowing them to start pumping sludge without manual intervention.
• Gentle Handling: These pumps provide gentle pumping action, crucial for preventing shear-sensitive materials, such as biological sludge, from being damaged or degraded during the pumping process.

In summary, the advantages of rotary lobe pumps in handling municipal wastewater sludge include their ability to handle viscous and abrasive materials, gentle pumping action, self-priming capability, efficiency, ease of maintenance, and flexibility to handle varying flow requirements. These factors make them a popular choice in wastewater treatment applications.

Vogelsang perfected the pump to handle the demands of tough municipal wastewater sludge containing solids, abrasives, and debris. The pump delivers a pulsation-free flow, making it ideal for feeding dewatering equipment such as belt presses, centrifuges, and screw presses.

Vogelsang rotary lobe pumps have a long history of providing reliable pumping solutions at water and wastewater treatment facilities whether pumping primary sludge, secondary sludge, waste-activated sludge (WAS), thickened waste-activated sludge (TWAS), return activated sludge (RAS), septage, or slurries.

Typical Applications at Wastewater Treatment Plants

• Sludge Transfer: Rotary lobe pumps are used for transferring thick sludge between various stages of the treatment process. Their ability to handle high viscosity and abrasive sludge makes them ideal for this application.
• Sludge Dewatering: In dewatering processes like belt presses, centrifuges, and screw presses, rotary lobe pumps can be used to feed sludge to the dewatering device and feed flocculants and polymers into the sludge to enhance dewatering efficiency.
• Waste Activated Sludge (WAS) Pumping: WAS, a byproduct of biological treatment, is often thick and viscous. Rotary lobe pumps are used to pump this sludge for further treatment or disposal.
• Primary and Secondary Sludge Pumping: These pumps handle both primary and secondary sludge. They ensure efficient transfer for further processing or disposal.
• Chemical Dosing: Rotary lobe pumps are used to accurately meter and transfer chemicals such as coagulants, flocculants, and disinfectants into the treatment process to aid in sedimentation, coagulation, and disinfection.
• Digested Sludge Pumping: Digested sludge, a byproduct of aerobic and anaerobic digestion, is often less viscous than raw sludge but still requires reliable pumping. Rotary lobe pumps can handle this semi-liquid material effectively.
• Lime Slurry Pumping: Lime is commonly used in wastewater treatment for pH adjustment and chemical stabilization. Rotary lobe pumps can efficiently handle lime slurries and accurately meter them into treatment.
• Thickened Waste Sludge Transfer: Sludge thickening processes generate concentrated sludge. Rotary lobe pumps transfer this thickened sludge for further processing or disposal.
• Filter Press Feeding: Rotary lobe pumps feed sludge into filter presses, ensuring a consistent and controlled sludge flow to facilitate efficient filtration and dewatering.

The ability of rotary lobe pumps to handle a wide range of viscosities, solids content, and abrasive materials makes them indispensable in various critical applications within wastewater treatment plants.

Vogelsang rotary lobe pumps are recognized for their robust construction, innovative design, ease of maintenance, versatility, efficiency, customization options, excellent customer support, and commitment to the water and wastewater industry. These qualities make Vogelsang rotary lobe pumps the preferred choice.

For more information on the Vogelsang Rotary Lobe Pump or any other equipment Vogelsang can provide, contact Envirep at 717-761-7884 or sales@envirep.com.

By Mike Gillespie, Envirep

For a complete list of our products, CLICK HERE to view our manufacturer’s line card.

Envirep/TLC is a leading manufacturer’s representative and service provider for municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatment and pumping systems. We represent manufacturers of quality products, serving Eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, Washington D.C., Northern Virginia, and part of West Virginia.

The Envirep staff of application engineers and field service technicians have decades of experience in equipment selection, design, operation, and maintenance. We are committed to providing our customers with prompt and professional service. We assist consulting engineers and end-users with technical support, from new plant design and plant upgrades to equipment replacements and service. Our experienced team is here to recommend the right product, part, and service for your application.