HUBER RoWin® Heat Exchanger:
The key component of the ThermWin® technology

Conventional plate-frame heat exchangers are highly susceptible to fouling, which rapidly degrades heat transfer performance and necessitates regular cleaning. Regular isolation and cleaning result in high maintenance costs, dangerous and unsanitary sludge handling, and extensive system downtime that render plate-frame heat exchangers unsuitable for most commercial or industrial operations that deal with challenging mediums like wastewater or industrial waste. The patented HUBER RoWin® heat exchanger is a shell and tube heat exchanger specifically designed to address these shortcomings.

A shell-and-tube heat exchanger improved with patented HUBER innovation to facilitate safe and reliable thermal energy transfer, the RoWin® is made entirely of stainless steel which is passivated in a patented pickling process that ensures corrosion will not take root. It is odour-tight, allowing it to be installed in the most sensitive of spaces.

RoWin® Construction

The HUBER RoWin® heat exchanger consists of a welded stainless-steel construction in which horizontal pipe modules are arranged in parallel. The pipe modules are made of stainless steel to achieve maximum heat transfer efficiency. The pre-screened wastewater flows through the heat exchanger and, via the compactly arranged pipes, gives off its thermal energy to the cooling water.

Due to wastewater's specific chemical/biological properties, a biofilm is developed over time on the heat transfer surfaces that significantly impairs heat transfer. Therefore, preventive cleaning of the heat transfer surfaces is applied to ensure the maximum heat transfer capacity is permanently maintained. Sediments and solids settling on the tank floor are removed by a screw conveyor and returned to the sewer along with the cooled wastewater. The continuous removal of biofouling not only maintains constant energy transfer but also ensures continuous system operation with virtually no maintenance for ten years or longer.

It is important to make note of the fact that the wastewater flowing from the Wetwell and into the shell of the RoWin® heat exchanger never mixes or comes into contact with the clean treated water of the Energy Transfer Loop (ETL) that flows through the tubes of the RoWin® heat exchangers and out to the Heat Pumps. The two streams are physically separated, with the clean treated ETL water circulating inside the tubes while the wastewater circulates around the outside of the tubes within the shell of the RoWin® heat exchanger.

Additionally, a positive-pressure differential between the wastewater and the ETL ensures that, even in the unlikely event of a tube rupture, clean treated water will flow from the ETL to the wastewater, and not vice versa. Further, an alarm on the ETL piping makeup water meter will be immediately triggered in the event of such an emergency.

RoWin® Customization

As required, the HUBER RoWin® Heat Exchanger is available, with outer insulation for particularly exposed sites. With the heat exchanger installed above ground, the system offers the benefits of easy maintenance and operation. Due to its modular design, the HUBER RoWin® Heat Exchanger can be tailored to suit specific site requirements. In combination with a heat pump, up to several hundred kilowatts of thermal output can be generated, depending on the unit size. With the optimal combination of both systems, municipalities or industrial enterprises can cover up to 80% of the heat required from wastewater as an energy source.

Benefits of the HUBER RoWin® Heat Exchanger

  • Compact, enclosed tank design

  • Continuous maximum heat transfer capacity

  • Stable hydraulic conditions

  • Fully automatic operation, minimum maintenance requirements

  • Unsusceptible to grease, floating and coarse material

  • Automatic removal of sediments

  • Modular design for tailored solutions that meet the customer's specific requirements

  • Various possible applications in both the municipal and industrial field

  • Developed especially to be used with wastewater and sludge

  • Odour-tight and self-cleaning

For more information on HUBER please visit their website at https://www.huber-technology.com/