Customer Application
March 28, 2019
By the Region, for the Region: an Innovative Natural Resource Recovery System

Cows, steers, pigs: The Borken district is a rural area, and the animals deposit important nutrients. However, the West Münsterland region does not have enough acreage for releasing the liquid manure on fields for its nutrients. Nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium salts can be recovered from liquid manure – so it’s a shame to waste it. What to do? Doris Nienhaus, CEO of NDM Naturwerkstoffe GmbH in Velen, had an innovative idea in 2013, the likes of which the world had never seen before. 90 farmers from the Borken region and the new TOPJOB^® S Rail-Mount Terminal Block with lever from WAGO were there too.

Intelligent Resource Recovery

In the Borken district of North Rhine-Westphalia, you need to drive over 250 km to properly dispose of surplus liquid manure. That’s the same as the distance from Hanover to Berlin. About 1,000,000 m³ of surplus liquid manure occurs. And the transport costs for disposal continue to rise. That is a real challenge. Doris Nienhaus, managing director of NDM Naturwerkstoffe GmbH in Velen, had an exciting idea: “From liquid manure, we can recover valuable materials that can be recycled, in the form of methane and nitrogen. We want to do that on our own premises, with a unique natural resource recovery system.” A total of 90 farmers from the Borken district are limited partners in the system. The idea came into being at the end of 2014. The multi-stage (mechanical–biological–thermal–chemical) process recovers marketable products from the phosphorous and nitrogen compounds in the liquid manure, leaving no material flows that would be environmentally harmful or require disposal. As a side effect, the system can use almost all the (electrical and thermal) energy generated in the process itself, covering 90 % of the overall system’s energy consumption during normal operation. Subsidies are used to develop environmental technologies, with the support of researchers, which will be tested on site under real operating conditions. The concept is unique.

A Strong Cooperation for an Idea

But the first step is always the hardest – before the project began, there were other ideas for approaches that were eventually rejected – a long and rocky road for Nienhaus. The system is the only one of its type in the world, and “as of April/May 2019, I’ll be able to say more about whether everything works right,” says Nienhaus. “The system generates about 1500 kW of electricity per hour. That roughly corresponds to the consumption of 3000 households,” adds Nienhaus. All the companies and technicians involved come from nearby. That was very important for the participating farmers in particular. With the slogan “by the region, for the region”, they vouch for the innovative idea together. About twenty jobs were created and assigned directly to the project. Horlemann, which has been a part of Vinci Energies Deutschland and the energy infrastructure brand Omexom since December 2017, serves as a partner company. The Omexom branch in Uedem is a service provider in the power supply industry, for 33 kV to the low voltage range.

We’ve collaborated successfully with WAGO for a long time. The new TOPJOB^® S Rail-Mont Terminal Blocks with levers offer the customer a very quick and easy connection option.

Michael Paeßens, Power Engineering, Omexom Uedem

The Requirement: a Quick and Easy Connection Option

Horlemann and Doris Nienhaus were already able to test their collaboration out some time ago, and the result was a success. “I had a good feeling that Horlemann could help us meet this difficult challenge,” says Nienhaus. Michael Paeßens, from the Power Engineering department of Omexom Uedem, also had the opportunity to work with Doris Nienhaus in previous projects. In Nordvelen, Paeßens is responsible for establishing the power supply at NDM. And where did WAGO come into this? “We’ve collaborated successfully with WAGO for a long time. The new TOPJOB® S Rail-Mont Terminal Blocks with levers offer the customer a very quick and easy connection option,” says Paeßens. It was necessary to establish a temporary connection to supply the pre-heating unit and other parts of the system that are attached temporarily. “With the new rail-mount terminal block, tools are no longer needed. Although the connections are temporary and need to be reconnected again and again, no wear occurs, unlike with screw-clamp connections,” explains Paeßens. This in turn ensures a long service life for the terminal blocks. Another advantage is the marking of the new rail-mount terminal block, which allows plain text marking. This helps the end user immediate grasp where the terminal block is supposed to be used. There are no connection problems anymore. “The newTOPJOB® S Rail-Mount Terminal Block with lever saves us from having to provide long explanations. It’s easy and intuitive to use, in any position, without tools,” concludes Paeßens. Viktor Kamperdick-Voss can confirm that: He is a project manager for power engineering at Omexom Uedem and responsible for developing a connection and electrical feed-in concept. Together with Westnetz GmbH and NDM Naturwerkstoffe GmbH, he created an option for feeding the electric power to the grid. For Kamperdick-Voss, it is especially important to meet customers’ need for providing temporary connections: “With the new TOPJOB® S Rail-Mount Terminal Block with lever, even staff without much training can carry out installation tasks without tools – spontaneously and without needing a second pair of hands to help.”

The Communication Connection to the Energy Supplier

Another important issue is connecting the system to the energy supplier’s data network. One person who is very familiar with this issue is Stefan Müller, department head for telecontrol technology, IoT and general communication solutions for industry in the Automation division and IT department at Omexom. Especially in communication, reliable testing of signals is always necessary. “The new rail-mount terminal block allows us to rewire quickly and flexibly and ensure a dynamic testing phase,” says Müller. The data on the generation plants is then provided to various companies – a successful communication connection all around. Nienhaus expects to be able to say more about the future development of this state-of-the-art system in April/May of this year already. Even if the road was often rocky, it has already paid off: The Borken district, together with NDM, can boast of being the first site of innovation in liquid manure treatment.

The new TOPJOB^® S Rail-Mount Terminal Block with lever saves us from having to provide long explanations. It’s easy and intuitive to use, in any position, without tools.

Michael Paeßens, Power Engineering, Omexom Uedem

Sustainable Energy Generation – with the TOPJOB® S Rail-Mount Terminal Blocks with Levers

Product Highlights

Item no.: 2102-5301

TOPJOB®S feedthrough terminal block with Lever and Push-buttons ; rail mount ; ...

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Item no.: 2102-1301

TOPJOB®S feedthrough terminal block with Lever and Open Tool Slots ; rail mount ; ...

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Item no.: 2106-1301

TOPJOB®S feedthrough terminal block with Lever and Open Tool Slots ; rail mount ; ...

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Item no.: 2200-1201

TOPJOB®S feedthrough terminal block with Push-buttons ; rail mount ; 2-conductor ; ...

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Item no.: 2102-5201

TOPJOB®S feedthrough terminal block with Lever and Push-button ; rail mount ; ...

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Item no.: 2102-1201

TOPJOB®S feedthrough terminal block with Lever and Open Tool Slot ; rail mount ; ...

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Always Have the Right Solution

Push Performance to the Top Easily with TOPJOB^® S Rail-Mount Terminal Blocks

In various industrial applications and modern building installations, WAGO’s wide and versatile range of rail-mount terminal blocks provides more than just reliable electrical connections.

Rail-Mount Terminal Blocks with Levers, Push-Buttons, Operating Slots

WAGO Rail-Mount Through Terminal Blocks are available in three different actuation variants: lever, push-button and operating slot – the right rail-mount terminal block for every application.

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Customer Application March 28, 2019 By the Region, for the Region: an Innovative Natural Resource Recovery System