A special development of waste water treatment plant is the bioreactor that is installed and operated in railed vehicles. This is an adapted small sewage treatment plant and consists of a mechanical pre-treatment, an aerobic packed bed with nitrification and a final hygienisation process that purifies the waste water of the train toilets directly “on site”. This plant replaces the cost-intensive collection tank system that requires the extraction by suction of the waste water every other day and the subsequent purification in community facilities.
Several European railroad companies have already discovered the advantages of this system and use it large-scale.
The design of the system
The spatial construction of the plant can be adjusted to the respective vehicle-specific installation situation. As a general rule, there is a distinction between an installation in the vehicle and a space-saving underfloor installation of the Protec system. The last one results in no reduction of the seating capacity or the seating comfort of the vehicle. The bioreactor can be installed in high speed trains, local trains, it can be used when designing new trains and it can be used for refurbishments.
The Protec system consists of the following elements:
Solids compartment
Fluids compartment
Hygienisation unit
Control and display
Procedure Bioreactor
The advantages of the bioreactor
The advantages of the bioreactor The advantages of the Protec system result from the low operating costs for the maintenance and the disposal. Depending on the respective installation situation and the space limitations of the bioreactor there are cleaning and disposal intervals between 2 and 6 months. Furthermore, a simple disposal unit can be used for this purpose.
Extended disposal intervals
High availability of the vehicle
Economic advantages with respect to the LCC values
Low requirements with respect to the disposal unit
Independent of the infrastructure, especially for cross-border traffic
No "external" disposal costs
Stable costs (constant increase of wages, energy and waste water)
