Penig / Dortmund. Industrial installations, which are located in flood-prone areas, must be protected against water ingress with appropriate flood protection concepts. In the event of flooding, damages on buildings, engines and material as well as the production losses resulting from it are thus reduced to a minimum. In the Technocell Dekor GmbH & Co. KG’s paper mill which is located in Penig (Middle Saxony), sewage pumps of the Dortmund pump expert WILO SE play a decisive role in the realisation of a flood protection concept.

The Penig factory is considered to be the eldest paper mill still operating in Germany. Even today, some parts of the production are still in the historical buildings erected in 1538. In 1991 the factory was taken over by the globally operating Felix Schoeller Gruppe. After extensive renovations, 104 employees produce today about 30,000 t of high-value decoration paper for the surfaces of laminate floors per year.

The “millennium flood” in August 2002 was the crucial event which led to the development of a flood protection concept. Back then, the Zwickauer Mulde river overflowed the banks and flooded the entire production site. Despite sandbag dikes, the water entered the buildings through partially unknown underground channels and caused heavy damages. In order to prevent such cost-intensive breakdowns, the company realised an extensive flood protection programme for the factory in the following years. In a first step, all underground connections to the river were closed. After that the technical flood protection was optimised. This programme includes the protection of the factory by means of mobile steel wall systems and sandbag dikes which can be set up within a very short time when there is a risk of flood.

In addition, water, which entered the building, shall be pumped out with mobile pumps. This is the task of the ten pumps from the “Wilo-Drain TP” series. These are powerful electrically operated submersible sewage pumps which are portable and can be installed in a wet, dry, horizontal as well as vertical position. They are optimally suitable for draining cellars, shafts or construction pits. The most powerful series applied in Penig, the “Wilo-Drain TP 100 E 250/84”, pumps up to 180 m³ water per hour at a maximum delivery head of 18 metres.

Despite this high performance the pump has a very low weight which is due to the combination of a stainless steel motor housing and a plastic pump casing. Thus they can be transported by only two people, even in inaccessible areas of the factory premises. The large free ball passage of the pumps is particularly important for combating flood because also water soiled with solid matter can be pumped away. Furthermore the pumps are suitable for permanent operation; a separate float switch serves as dry-running protection.

For the paper mill in Penig, Wilo designed the pumps as mobile units which are immediately ready for application in the event of emergency. For this reason the connection cables of the pumps were equipped with 16 A CEE plug switches which allow direct starting. In addition, the pump housings got pipe bends with Storz A pipe couplings. The equipment is topped off with hose packages of different lengths which also have Storz A pipe couplings. To make sure that in case of emergency every point of the factory premises can be easily accessed, each of the pumps including accessories is placed on special trolleys. Together with the steel walls and the sandbags, the factory can be completely protected against a flood within only a few hours. With this concept, the traditionally rich site, in which paper has been produced for more than 450 years, is now perfectly protected against floods.