AH Consult offers
services in the following areas with emphasis in the
pulp and paper industry:
Further information regarding our services can be found under the Title Activity Profile.
download this text as PDF-File
Centres of Activity
Alfred Helble is active as a consultant since 2000 in water, wastewater and environmental technology. The list of references is showing both longterm consulting customers with consultancy in all above mentioned items and extensive single projects out of the fields of engineering as well as R&D, which has been accompanied by Alfred Helble. Troubleshooting for current environmental issues have been undertaken in several in special cases.
Several companies and corporate groups were advised continuously in all aspects of technical environmental protection and environmental management especially risk analysis and risk management (have a look at our reference list, please). Concepts for improvement of wastewater treatment plants to reach better elimination, improved performance and expansion of treatment capacity as well as for new plants for treatment of effluent part streams have been worked out. The putting into action of such concepts was accompanied. Total costs considerations for different ways to fulfil legal editions were carried out.
- Wastewater Treatment Plants: Variant studies, concept development, concept design, assessment of offers, assessment of concept and performance, assessment of the available capacity in regard to projected changes of stock composition and/or increased production capacity. Assessment of new methods with a view to suitability for the task, operational safety and expected operating costs. Accompanying of start-up and optimization of the plants basically designed by us. Concepts for pretreatment or complete treatment for direct discharge for mills now discharging to public wastewater treatments plants had to be prepared.
- Problems in Effluent Treatment: Problem diagnosis, immediate measures and long-term remedy measures, stabilisation by change of the operational parameters, suggestions for improvement in the technical equipment, concept development for long term remediation. Analysis of the technical aspects of possible legal consequences.
- Advanced Effluent Treatment: Advanced treatment of paper mill wastewaters in the sense of an elimination of organic substances beyond the effect of cleaning mechanical biologically is demanded increasingly to protect the receiving waters. We develop these concepts and compare various methods such as the use of membrane bioreactors, membrane treatment methods, the chemical biochemical oxidation and the evaporation depending on the local situation. Checking the ozone-biofilm-process developed by us remains of current interest. The process is in operation in a mill.
- Indirect Discharge: Expert forecast of discharge values to be expected; discussion of the dependence of concentrations of the short-term wastewater flow rate; assessment for the conversion to direct discharge and development of suitable treatment plant concepts. Support with applications and fixing of conditions for discharge regulatory limits.
- Charges for Wastewater Discharge (German Wastewater Charge Act): Declaration of standards to be adhered to (with statistical evaluation of parameters and forecast of final values), cost saving by consequent application of the current law, exploiting all possibilities to deduct investment costs from discharge costs, calculation of discharge costs for the next years, development of long time strategies for settling of the investment costs of stepwise realized concepts for the gradual implementation of new techniques in the wastewater treatment.
- System for Environmental Reporting: Continuous improvement and further development of evaluation data files based on standard user software, which automatically produces monthly and annual reports, including monitoring reports demanded by authorities. The evaluation files supply data for all required calculations and statistical evaluations as well as graphic representations of monitoring data. This permits easy regular assessment of the plant operation and allows diagnosis of the causes of faults. The system provides full information to the regulatory authorities as is demanded. Where environmental management systems are used, these reports are an essential component of the system. The files are part of the constant inventory of the management instruments of some of our clients and are continuously improved.
Technical concepts for sludge dewatering and drying, concepts to minimize biological excess sludges, total costs comparisons; methods to advantageously utilise wastes, pre-treatment measures, avoidance of offensive smells; application of the German Recycling and Wastes Act (waste balance sheets, waste concept); assignment of waste key numbers.
Investigation program, assessment, and technical transfer to reduce water consumption by specific measures without impairing production or quality. Discussion of internal waste and emission avoidance measures. Assessment of key figures and derivation of reengineering programs. Development of concepts for closing the water cycles with technical economic comparison of internal and external treatment concepts for the recycling water. Forecasts of changes in water cycle as well as effluent quality when internal treatment methods are implemented and / or treated effluent is recycled.
Temperature control of wastewater by internal and external measures, safety measures for working with substances that are water polluting and/or dangerous in contact with water.
Our reference list is available on request.
Membership in the ZELLCHEMING Committee for environmental protection (FA ENVI) and in the subcommittees "Water/ Wastewater" and "Solid Wastes" as well as in the Akademischer Papieringenieur-Verein an der Technischen Universität Darmstadt (APV Darmstadt).
Member of project assisting boards for INFOR- and AIF-R&D projects. Membership in the IWA Specialist Group on Forest Industry; A. Helble is registered referee for IWA. Through his membership in professional associations DWA, IWA and the APV and ZELLCHEMING Alfred Helble is integrated into a network of experts in the sector.
The most recent version is ready for download on the website www.ah-consult.de under publications free of charge.
We help companies of the pulp and paper industry on the preparation for the certification or validation of environmental management systems (ISO 14000 or EMAS). In this field we have a cooperation with Fabri + Partners, Laufen/CH (see under "Cooperation").
We offer seminars on all areas of environmental protection in the pulp and paper industry. We give seminars in specially designed programs, also in cooperation with other partners. Furthermore, we provide training of employees for special tasks e.g. for the start up of new biological wastewater treatment plants or handling of new techniques in environmental protection.