NL
Process water in greenhouse horticulture must meet strict requirements. Zero emission applies in 2027. The cooperation between technology supplier Agrozone and measurement and control specialist JUMO responds to this with all-round ozone-based purification systems. 'The sensor is one of the most important components of our installation.'
Account manager Werner van Mullekom of Agrozone is well versed in the various water flows of greenhouse horticulture. The relatively small company is a niche player in ozone-based water treatment technology in the industry that is important to the Dutch economy. The demands that greenhouse growers place on their process water are high, prompted not least by strict laws and regulations. "Horticulture is a very diverse sector. The same applies to horticultural water," says Van Mullekom. "Drinking water has a fairly constant composition and quality. Greenhouse cultivation water is different for each farm location and each crop. For example, different fertilizers are added each time. The use of rainwater or well water also varies. The main requirement is that the feed water for greenhouses is completely disinfected. The virus pressure in greenhouse farming is considerable."
Even greater challenges are coming. By 2027, greenhouse horticulture must circulate all process water. The goal of these European regulations, implemented in our country in the Activities Decree, is that horticulturists no longer discharge wastewater. A ban on the discharge of wastewater containing crop protection products has already been in place since 2018. The rules in the Activities Decree stipulate that 95 percent of the crop protectants must be removed from the water. The water must be treated in a treatment plant approved by the Technical Assessment Committee for Treatment Plants in Glasshouse Horticulture (BVG). Companies must demonstrate according to a measurement protocol that they achieve this minimum required purification efficiency. "Water quality was important and thus becomes even more important," says Van Mullekom. "With our Hortizone plant, we were one of the first suppliers to meet these regulations. We can also remove 99.9 percent of the crop protectants that drip along with the irrigation water. We are ready for the zero emission requirements."
Agrozone has been working with JUMO for some time. This company's measuring and control equipment for water quality analysis is built into Agrozone's type Aqualine plants as standard. The cooperation goes back a long way. Van Mullekom had to check with the company's founder Cees de Haan, spiritual father behind the ozone-based treatment technology. Before Agrozone was founded more than ten years ago, the first ozone plants already had sensors from JUMO. "The explanation behind this choice," Van Mullekom explains, "was technical support. Sensors can foul over time and show anomalies. For our plants, it is crucial that defective sensors or sensors that do not function properly are checked or replaced as soon as possible. In addition, you need a partner who thinks with you when troubleshooting in the field. You always run into that. We can rely on JUMO. In addition to technical support, the company has a palette of measurement and control technology that covers the required purification efficiencies and water qualities in horticulture. The sensor is 1 of the most important components of our installation."
The most important instruments for water treatment are pH and redox sensors for measuring the acidity and oxidizing ability of water (read: ability to break down contaminants), respectively. "If the pH of the water is not good, then the disinfecting action with ozone does not proceed properly either. The same is true if the redox is not good," says JUMO account manager Richard Jepkes. "The pH and redox measurements must be exactly right for the correct ozone treatment of the water. That works very closely." For some time, both sensors have been run in installations in duplicate, for the first measurement and a control measurement. Agrozone and JUMO are now going to implement this in Agrozone's installations as well. The first plants are already being equipped with it.
Measurement and control technology continues to develop. Jepkes explains that JUMO's analysis equipment at Agrozone's treatment plants have a separate stand-alone housing. "Sensors have to be calibrated once in a while, often even weekly. Normally, you then have to remove the sensor from the installation and then calibrate it in a liquid. In our installation, calibration takes place in the analysis unit itself. That is a big advantage for the continuity of the purification process, because otherwise you would spend a lot of calibration time on that."
An undisputed trend is that control of the measurement and control part of plants is moving more and more toward the cloud. "Our mechanics walk through plant with their tablet and can check all the sensors," Jepkes explains the benefits. In line with this, SPE (Single Pair Ethernet) sensors are on the rise. This slimmer form of cabling for power and data transmission allows longer distances in the factory hall without having to install amplifiers to improve the signal. "This is definitely also a godsend," says Jepkes, for the often dozens of meters long horticultural greenhouses."
The ozone generator is Agrozone's basic technology (and is woven into the company's name: "Agr-ozon-e"). The purification technique based on oxidation with active oxygen flourished after the turn of the century as a sustainable alternative to chemical purifiers. The first customers in horticulture were tulip bulb growers. To store the tulip bulbs in the storage cells, they started dosing ozone gas with Agrozone's installations. The failure rate of about 15 percent went down to virtually zero. After harvesting the tulip fields, a lot of water is needed to wash the bulbs. The wastewater was successfully treated with ozone oxidation. As a result, growers of other crops caught on and the company gained a solid reputation as a sustainable water treatment specialist.
Oxidation with ozone (O3) is considered a robust purification technique. Due to the extra O atom in ozone, unwanted substances (bacteria, viruses and contaminants) in wastewater are immediately broken down by powerful oxidation, upon which oxygen (O2) remains. In the case of microorganisms, the cell walls and genetic material of cells are oxidized. The decontaminated water contains up to 300 percent oxygen. So it also allows horticultural crops to grow better, which increases crop yield.
Another special feature of ozone technology is that it does not convert to nitrite. Nitrite is a problem in cucumber cultivation in particular, as it can give thin and deformed cucumbers. Tomatoes and peppers, in turn, are less sensitive to it. Agrozone was recently able to demonstrate to a customer that its ozone technology breaks down 98.5 percent of nitrite.
Agrozone's plant produces ozone on site with compressed air (by a compressor from ambient air) (up to 1,000 grams/hour). The ozone is drawn in under vacuum and mixed with water. Then the mixed water enters a reactor where it is exposed to 1 bar of water pressure, making it more reactive. The treatment capacity of the plant is 120m3/hour for rainwater and 50m3/hour for the troublesome "drain water. Greenhouse growers are required to collect this excess drain water and reuse it as feed water.
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Process water in greenhouse horticulture must meet strict requirements. Zero emission applies in 2027. The cooperation between technology supplier Agrozone and measurement and control specialist JUMO responds to this with all-round ozone-based purification systems. 'The sensor is one of the most important components of our installation.'
Account manager Werner van Mullekom of Agrozone is well versed in the various water flows of greenhouse horticulture. The relatively small company is a niche player in ozone-based water treatment technology in the industry that is important to the Dutch economy. The demands that greenhouse growers place on their process water are high, prompted not least by strict laws and regulations. "Horticulture is a very diverse sector. The same applies to horticultural water," says Van Mullekom. "Drinking water has a fairly constant composition and quality. Greenhouse cultivation water is different for each farm location and each crop. For example, different fertilizers are added each time. The use of rainwater or well water also varies. The main requirement is that the feed water for greenhouses is completely disinfected. The virus pressure in greenhouse farming is considerable."
Even greater challenges are coming. By 2027, greenhouse horticulture must circulate all process water. The goal of these European regulations, implemented in our country in the Activities Decree, is that horticulturists no longer discharge wastewater. A ban on the discharge of wastewater containing crop protection products has already been in place since 2018. The rules in the Activities Decree stipulate that 95 percent of the crop protectants must be removed from the water. The water must be treated in a treatment plant approved by the Technical Assessment Committee for Treatment Plants in Glasshouse Horticulture (BVG). Companies must demonstrate according to a measurement protocol that they achieve this minimum required purification efficiency. "Water quality was important and thus becomes even more important," says Van Mullekom. "With our Hortizone plant, we were one of the first suppliers to meet these regulations. We can also remove 99.9 percent of the crop protectants that drip along with the irrigation water. We are ready for the zero emission requirements."
Agrozone has been working with JUMO for some time. This company's measuring and control equipment for water quality analysis is built into Agrozone's type Aqualine plants as standard. The cooperation goes back a long way. Van Mullekom had to check with the company's founder Cees de Haan, spiritual father behind the ozone-based treatment technology. Before Agrozone was founded more than ten years ago, the first ozone plants already had sensors from JUMO. "The explanation behind this choice," Van Mullekom explains, "was technical support. Sensors can foul over time and show anomalies. For our plants, it is crucial that defective sensors or sensors that do not function properly are checked or replaced as soon as possible. In addition, you need a partner who thinks with you when troubleshooting in the field. You always run into that. We can rely on JUMO. In addition to technical support, the company has a palette of measurement and control technology that covers the required purification efficiencies and water qualities in horticulture. The sensor is 1 of the most important components of our installation."
The most important instruments for water treatment are pH and redox sensors for measuring the acidity and oxidizing ability of water (read: ability to break down contaminants), respectively. "If the pH of the water is not good, then the disinfecting action with ozone does not proceed properly either. The same is true if the redox is not good," says JUMO account manager Richard Jepkes. "The pH and redox measurements must be exactly right for the correct ozone treatment of the water. That works very closely." For some time, both sensors have been run in installations in duplicate, for the first measurement and a control measurement. Agrozone and JUMO are now going to implement this in Agrozone's installations as well. The first plants are already being equipped with it.
Measurement and control technology continues to develop. Jepkes explains that JUMO's analysis equipment at Agrozone's treatment plants have a separate stand-alone housing. "Sensors have to be calibrated once in a while, often even weekly. Normally, you then have to remove the sensor from the installation and then calibrate it in a liquid. In our installation, calibration takes place in the analysis unit itself. That is a big advantage for the continuity of the purification process, because otherwise you would spend a lot of calibration time on that."
An undisputed trend is that control of the measurement and control part of plants is moving more and more toward the cloud. "Our mechanics walk through plant with their tablet and can check all the sensors," Jepkes explains the benefits. In line with this, SPE (Single Pair Ethernet) sensors are on the rise. This slimmer form of cabling for power and data transmission allows longer distances in the factory hall without having to install amplifiers to improve the signal. "This is definitely also a godsend," says Jepkes, for the often dozens of meters long horticultural greenhouses."
The ozone generator is Agrozone's basic technology (and is woven into the company's name: "Agr-ozon-e"). The purification technique based on oxidation with active oxygen flourished after the turn of the century as a sustainable alternative to chemical purifiers. The first customers in horticulture were tulip bulb growers. To store the tulip bulbs in the storage cells, they started dosing ozone gas with Agrozone's installations. The failure rate of about 15 percent went down to virtually zero. After harvesting the tulip fields, a lot of water is needed to wash the bulbs. The wastewater was successfully treated with ozone oxidation. As a result, growers of other crops caught on and the company gained a solid reputation as a sustainable water treatment specialist.
Oxidation with ozone (O3) is considered a robust purification technique. Due to the extra O atom in ozone, unwanted substances (bacteria, viruses and contaminants) in wastewater are immediately broken down by powerful oxidation, upon which oxygen (O2) remains. In the case of microorganisms, the cell walls and genetic material of cells are oxidized. The decontaminated water contains up to 300 percent oxygen. So it also allows horticultural crops to grow better, which increases crop yield.
Another special feature of ozone technology is that it does not convert to nitrite. Nitrite is a problem in cucumber cultivation in particular, as it can give thin and deformed cucumbers. Tomatoes and peppers, in turn, are less sensitive to it. Agrozone was recently able to demonstrate to a customer that its ozone technology breaks down 98.5 percent of nitrite.
Agrozone's plant produces ozone on site with compressed air (by a compressor from ambient air) (up to 1,000 grams/hour). The ozone is drawn in under vacuum and mixed with water. Then the mixed water enters a reactor where it is exposed to 1 bar of water pressure, making it more reactive. The treatment capacity of the plant is 120m3/hour for rainwater and 50m3/hour for the troublesome "drain water. Greenhouse growers are required to collect this excess drain water and reuse it as feed water.
What to do before 2023 & 2027?
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