The Buma pump station located in Rutten Town, Netherlands is equipped with three large vertical centrifugal pumps to ensure a safe and sufficient supply of clean water locally. As the usage time increases, the failure rate of one of the frequency converters is increasing. To ensure the sustainable use of the pump, the Zuiderzeeland District Water Authority has decided to replace the existing frequency converter. In 2019, Danfoss partner ENGIE Electroproject received an order to replace the frequency converter and related tasks, and used Danfoss VACON ® The NXP water-cooled frequency converter provides urban flood control and drainage services for Northeast polder fields.

The Zuiderzeeland District Water Authority is responsible for water management in the entire province of Flevoland, as well as in some areas of Friesland and Overijssel in the Netherlands. The Water Authority manages all embankments, waterways, pumping stations, and water treatment plants in the area to ensure a safe and sufficient supply of clean water. The scope covers seven Weitian pumping stations (including three in Northeast Weitian), five wastewater treatment plants, fifteen sewage pumping stations, thousands of small dams, and pumps to maintain the ideal water level and clean water resources of Flevoland.

Since 1941, the Buma pump station, along with the Smeenge pump located on the east side, has played an important role in the drainage of polders in the northeastern Netherlands. To this day, Buma pumping station is still an important component of water level management in polder fields. The pumping station is equipped with three large vertical centrifugal pumps, each with a maximum flow rate of 750 cubic meters per minute and a pump head of 5.6 meters. Each pump is driven by an 850kW three-phase induction motor. The current pump and 690V variable speed motor are produced by Spanish manufacturer Alconza and have been in use since 2006. With the passage of time, the number of faults in frequency converters gradually increases, and even there are situations where spare parts are difficult to obtain. In order to ensure the continuous availability of the pump, in 2018, the Water Authority decided to replace the existing frequency converter.

Danfoss partner ENGIE Electroproject has extensive experience in the water supply industry and has carried out overall design, implementation, and management of the project. At the same time, I am also responsible for upgrading and repairing the frequency converter, providing customers with 24-hour service while maintaining a stable inventory of all spare parts.

ENGIE sales engineer Bas Verhoog explained:

We fully utilize Danfoss's inventory of frequency converters in Gorinchem. For this project, our goal is to preserve the existing wiring as much as possible, including power cables, signal cables, and motor cables. As the most time-saving and reliable solution, we mark the position and connect all cables to the corresponding points at the same height, and then adjust the water cooling.

Ruud Versluis, Danfoss Account Manager, stated:

For many years, Danfoss has provided tens of thousands of frequency converters of various sizes to the water supply industry. Although Buma pump station is not equipped with a common model, we have promptly delivered a large number of small and medium-sized AC frequency converters for sewage pump stations, ventilation equipment, sewage tank mixers, etc.