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Optimisation of pump station in Zurich

In their third semester, Energy and Environmental Technology students optimised the pump station in Wollishofen on behalf of the city of Zurich.

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The Wollishofen pump station in Zurich transports 1,600,000 cubic litres of wastewater a year. The wastewater is guided to the purification plant via four pumps each with a capacity of 250 litres per second. Over the next five years, the 35-year-old machines will be replaced by new pumps with a higher capacity. At the moment, the pumps are only in operation  5% of the time and use 5% of their energy for starting and stopping. The students were given the assignment by "Energie Recycling Zürich" and were tasked with optimising the set-up of the pumps in such a way that the entire plant consumes less energy.

The students have advised  the city of Zurich to configure the pumps with a flow rate of 80/200/470 litres per second. This set-up has the shortest start/stop sequences,  thereby consuming the least amount of energy.

Project details

  • Client: Energie Recycling Zürich ERZ
  • Students: Markus Bossert, Aline Roth, Tobias Rüggeberg and Yves Siegrist
  • Coach: Dipl. Ing. Klaus Eisele