Düsseldorf, May 25, 2016 – Yesterday evening GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft was awarded the renowned „Deutscher Investor Relations Preis 2016” in the category of stock listed mid cap companies (MDAX). The award was received by CFO Dr. Helmut Schmale at the occasion of the Annual Conference of the German Investor Relations Association (DIRK) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

During the ceremony Dr. Helmut Schmale stated: “As a company currently in a change process to ensure excellence in all we do, we strive to communicate transparently to capital markets which perspectives ensue from that for investors. We are honored that our investor relations efforts are evidently appreciated by capital market participants.”

The selection of winners by category was based on the Extel survey, which is annually conducted by news agency Thomson Reuters. Globally, some 20,000 investment professionals participated this year, hence this prize is quite representative for the perception of capital market participants at large. The prize is the most prominent distinction a German based company can earn in this field.

Düsseldorf (Germany), May 30, 2016 – Nowadays, the need to process industrial and municipal wastewater in a cost-efficient, environmentally-friendly and resource-efficient manner is one of the most significant global challenges to be faced in competition for market shares and location advantages. Decision-makers focus on process efficiency and product quality as well as the need to reduce energy consumption as a cost driver for their installations.

GEA is a sought-after premium partner in the water/wastewater management growth market

Industrial and municipal wastewater treatment as a factor of competitionHigh-quality partner portfolio: Nijhuis Industries, Royal HaskoningDHV, CDEnviro and Cambi On course for success with energy- and resource-efficient GEA decanter technologies

At this year's IFAT 2016 in Munich, GEA is presenting itself not only as a leading systems provider of customized decanter solutions for water and wastewater treatment but also as a "preferred supplier" and premium partner for innovative globally operating environmental technology providers in the growth field of water management/water technology. These include in particular leading GreenTech companies such as the Dutch groups Nijhuis Industries and Royal HaskoningDHV, the Northern Irish company CDEnviro as well as Cambi from Norway. The range of applications of these high-quality GEA partners comprises process water and wastewater, water recycling and sewage sludge treatment as well as "waste-to-value" systems.

“The crucial factors in the decision to choose GEA as a certified 'preferred supplier' or premium partner were our process know how, the strong product quality of our decanter technology as well as our world-wide sales and service network”, says Joost Vliegen, Director Product Management Environmental Technology at GEA. “This guarantees our partners and their customers a reliable investment and a rapid return on investment over the entire machine and installation life cycle.”

GEA world-wide first “preferred supplier” for Nereda® process of Royal HaskoningDHV

With its natural wastewater treatment process Nereda® which has revolutionized the traditional municipal and industrial wastewater treatment process world-wide, the global player Royal HaskoningDHV has taken the decision to use decanter technology from GEA. In November 2015, the contracting parties signed a cooperation agreement which guarantees GEA the status as a “preferred supplier” for the decanter-based secondary sludge dewatering in the Nereda® process. The solution uses waterMaster decanters from the GEA ecoforce series, which ensure a considerable reduction in operating costs with their high sludge dewatering efficiency and their energy-saving drive, control and regulating systems. The agreement with Royal HaskoningDHV also includes intensive cooperation in the field of research and development, in order to ensure that the Nereda® process – which is already successfully employed in all continents – will continue to be optimized in order to meet the requirements of the customer. The initial result of this intensive cooperation: a 10-15 percent improvement in the dewatering capability of excess sludge - and thus a significant saving in terms of costs for every wastewater treatment plant.

Cooperation partnership between Cambi and GEA with tremendous prospects

A highly efficient technology for cost-saving wastewater treatment world-wide continues to achieve success in the form of the thermal hydrolysis process (THP) of Cambi using GEA decanters. The key element of the THP system developed by the Norwegian company Cambi: The considerable improvement in anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge using optimized thermal hydrolysis – with an increased digestion speed and a reduction of the amount of time spent in the digester. The extremely precise machine performances of GEA decanters are absolutely essential in the treatment of sewage sludge: The advantages include an automatically controlled constant discharge of 16.5 percent dry matter (DM) in pre-dewatering as well as a maximum dry matter of 30 to 35 percent in the final dewatering of the digested sludge. The result: With the same digester capacity, THP provides the possibility of achieving an up to 40 percent increase in the volume of sewage sludge to be processed. This avoids expensive investment costs for additional digesters and the reduced volume of digested sludge enables savings to be achieved in terms of disposal costs. The annual savings per installation can in total run into seven figures.

By the end of 2017, the THP system will be installed in a total of 54 wastewater treatment plants in approximately 20 countries, including more than 30 major installations with a population equivalent of more than 500,000 PE. GEA has the greatest amount of experience with the THP process for sewage sludge treatment in the entire sector, and in this particular field works continuously with Cambi in order to optimize processes and achieve further innovations. In consequence, the successful cooperation partnership between Cambi and GEA also offers further tremendous prospects in the huge market for wastewater treatment.

Main supplier and “preferred supplier” of Nijhuis Industries

The Dutch Nijhuis Industries specializes in the planning, production and turn-key delivery of industrial wastewater treatment plants, recycling and liquid-manure projects as well as “waste-to-value” projects. For this company with global operations, GEA has for the past approximately 20 years been one of the main suppliers of decanter equipment which for instance is used in biological wastewater treatment processes which result in savings in terms of disposal costs and which are also used in the processing of flotation sludges. For the past four years, GEA has also been the “preferred supplier” for the “GENIAAL system” of Nijhuis Industries. This highly-efficient process for treating liquid manure and fermentation residues is an intelligent combination of the application know-how of Nijhuis Industries and reliable GEA technologies which have demonstrated their value in many wastewater treatment applications. The GEA decanters ensure maximum separation of solid particles from the liquid manure in the initial pre-treatment stages, thus achieving the required separation into solid and liquid phases before subsequent flotation (DAF), ultra-filtration and reverse osmosis. The result: Using the liquid manure which would otherwise incur significant disposal costs, the user obtains reusable water (approx. 65 percent), a polymer-free solids cake which is rich in phosphates (approx. 15 percent) as well as high-quality liquid fertilizer (approx. 20 per cent) which is rich in potassium and nitrogen. An efficient win-win situation for the user and the environment which reduces costs and ensures the efficient use of resources.

Certified partnership with CDEnviro

The core competences of the international market leader CDEnviro which is based in Northern Ireland include wet processing installations for a wide range of industrial sectors and areas: e.g. road and sewer cleaning, construction and demolition companies and the treatment of agricultural harvest products such as potatoes. As a certified CDEnviro partner, GEA supplies the decanter technology for the clarification and dewatering of the sand and clay sludges in the wash water and rinsing water. Customized waterMasters of the ecoforce series ensure reliable processing of the fluctuating compositions of the material flows in the final stage of the processing system. Or stated simply: The GEA decanters reliably separate the dewatered solids and return 99 percent of the wash water and rinsing water as “clean” water to be reused in the installation. This is a key element in ensuring that CDEnviro has so far sold, installed and commissioned the highest number of wet processing installations in the world.

On target for success with energy- and resource-efficient GEA decanter technology

“In addition to our competence as an innovation and technology leader with a global sales and service network, there is a further good reason behind the extremely successful partnerships of GEA: Our partner companies appreciate the project management of GEA – as a guarantee for professionalism, customer loyalty and ability to meet deadlines and process optimization”, says Joost Vliegen. Excellent references for generating further partnerships and cooperations in the GreenTech sector at the IFAT 2016 in Munich and for ensuring that these continue to achieve success with the use of energy- and resource-efficient GEA technologies “made in Germany”.

The GEA decanter solutions which are customized for each individual customer always comply with the maximum industry standards and guarantee compliance with all prevailing standards and laws, without any concessions being made with regard to the performance of the installations.

Düsseldorf (Germany), May 30, 2016 – At this year's IFAT 2016, to be held between 30 May and 3 June 2016 in Munich, GEA will again be presenting new energy-efficient savings and optimization solutions for water and effluent treatment at its exhibition stand 427/526 in hall A1. For instance, the fully automatic control and regulating process GEA varipond®, which will be available for most of the waterMaster decanters in the GEA ecoforce series starting in 2016. This guarantees reliable, energy- and cost-efficient processing of sewage sludge with constant concentration even in conjunction with fluctuating feed conditions. A GEA innovation which will be appreciated particularly by the operators of municipal effluent treatment installations - not least also as a result of the retrofit version which can be retrofitted easily and cost-effectively.

Fully automatic: constant sludge dewatering even in conjunction with fluctuating feed conditions

Patented control and regulating procedure also for waterMaster decanters in the GEA ecoforce series starting in 2016Reliable, cost-saving pre-dewatering and thickening of primary and secondary sludge with constant concentration even in conjunction with fluctuating feed conditionsGEA innovation: Variable pond depth with automatic feed regulation while machine is runningEnergy- and resource-efficient simplification of infrastructure and operation during start-up and shut-down procedures without liquid overflow to the solids sideUp to 30 percent reduction in energy input - increased service life of the installationRetrofit version: Cost-efficient retrofitting option at any time

GEA varipond® does not leave operators of effluent treatment plants in the cold

Wherever sewage sludges have to be treated with centrifugal separating technology, it is essential to ensure a precise and reliable process even in conjunction with a wide range of conditions. GEA varipond® is a patented control and regulating process which ensures precise compliance with the requirement of constant concentration for downstream processes whenever decanters are used. “For instance, for the pre-dewatering and thickening of primary and secondary sludge in effluent treatment plants - in a scenario with which the operators are only too familiar: A sudden cloudburst, and the pumps and dewatering systems have to operate at full throttle in order to be able to cope with large volumes of water which is contaminated with solids”, says Joost Vliegen, Director Product Management Environmental Technology at GEA. “A system such as varipond® which provides an immediate response to the changed requirements ensures the necessary operational reliability in such situations.”

The GEA innovation: Variable pond depth while machines are still running

In the past, in order to ensure a constant concentration in conjunction with fluctuating feed conditions, decanters had to be shut down and manually converted. With varipond® (the name stands for "variable pond depth" in conjunction with machines which are still operating), the engineers of GEA have developed a process solution which automatically ensures optimum adjustment of the centrifuge to changed feed conditions while the machine is still operating. varipond® regulates the liquid level in the decanter bowl so precisely that the concentration of the thickened solids can be set to a constant level, and it is possible to ensure precise compliance with this requirement. Optical sensors measure the solids content of the thickened sludge, compare this figure with the defined setting, and the regulating facility ensures that the concentration remains constant - everything takes place automatically. This means that unsupervised operation is also possible at night and during the weekend.

Reduction of up to 30 percent in energy input - longer service life

Further advantages: With the variable pond depth, varipond® ensures simplified infrastructure and operation for starting up and shutting down the decanter without liquid overflowing to the solids side - utilizing the maximum g-volume of approx. 90 percent (g-volume = contents x bowl speed).

The installation of a solids scraper with piping which prevents sludge which has not yet been dewatered from entering the solids container, and flushing water for ingress water is no longer required. “By adjusting the g-force to the feed conditions and by attaining the associated speed reduction, it is possible to achieve savings of up to 30 percent in electrical power. In addition, the process of starting up and shutting down the installation becomes much more simple and cost-effective without a solids scraper”, says Joost Vliegen.

varipond® – how it works

Wherever the clarified liquid is discharged from the decanter bowl, there is an axially adjustable throttle valve which determines the gap width of the outlet aperture: Small gap, higher resistance, lower water discharge, higher liquid level. Intelligent sensor technology detects the throughput quantity which is required at a specific time, and regulates the gap width as a function of the desired liquid level in the decanter bowl, by moving the adjustable throttle valve to the optimum position while the machine is still operating. The varipond® process ensures a decanter infrastructure with a reduced number of parts, and also ensures optimum efficiency in conjunction with a considerable reduction in operating and maintenance costs. All downstream processes are thus also optimized.

Retrofit – retrofitting option available at all times

The varipond® control and regulating technology of GEA can easily be integrated in existing waterMaster decanters of the GEA ecoforce series. This means that varipond® offers the possibility of individually controllable efficiency gains for all areas of operations. “It is frequently the case that small investments have a tremendous knock-on effect - particularly in the longer term”, says Joost Vliegen. “The advantages for the operator are obvious: No need to purchase new decanters, no lengthy downtimes, no need for complete conversion. The retrofit option with varipond® enables the operator to achieve process and product optimizations which previously were only possible in conjunction with high levels of financial and labour-intensive investments.”

Advantages at a glance

Automatic feed regulation while machine is still operatingSimplified infrastructure for ingress water during start-up and shut-down proceduresEnergy- and resource-efficient start-up and shut-down procedures without liquid overflow on the solids sideSimple and precise pre-dewatering and thickening with stable discharge concentrationAccuracy of ± 0.3 % DM, infinitely adjustableThickening without polymers is possible Maximum throughput capacity of the decanterUp to 30 percent savings in terms of energyOptimization of all downstream processesReduction of transport and disposal costsLow level of wear, long service lifeMaintenance-freeUnsupervised operation also possible at night and during the weekendEfficient retrofit option available at all times

Düsseldorf (Germany), June 03, 2016 – With the theme “Dairy is the future” the official opening of Dairy Campus, a cooperation project of Wageningen University and various partners, took place from 26th to 28th of May in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. With the combination of stalls with educational, research and innovative functions and extensive reception facilities the Dairy Campus is a very unique project. During the open days, it was possible to enter the stables, visit knowledge sessions and meet interesting people from the dairy network. Dairy Campus is made possible by a number of premium partners, including GEA which supplied the AutoRotor PerFormer, a milking carrousel suited for 40 cows, and barn equipment.

Furthermore, Wageningen UR Livestock Research and GEA officially confirmed their 3-year cooperation contract during a press conference on the 26th of May.

Dairy Campus: the Silicon Valley for the Dairy Industry

Dairy Campus is a Dutch Development Park where all the parties in the milk and dairy chain come together. This unique location has been created on the former site of Nij Bosma Zathe. Boasting 500 dairy cattle, more than 300 hectares of land, training and conference facilities, Dairy Campus is an inspiring meeting place for anyone involved in the dairy sector. Concentrated in one center they share knowledge, experience and opportunities. Research results can be quickly applied in practice and integrated directly into education.

Inspiring 3-day program

On the 26th and 27th of May entrepreneurs from the dairy industry and dairy farmers had ample opportunity to get into contact with each other. During those 2 days Dairy Campus together with researchers from Wageningen UR Livestock Research and other knowledge institutions organized inspiring meetings. Visitors were challenged to talk and think about future developments in the dairy industry. On Saturday, there was an open house for farmers and general public to visit and experience Dairy Campus.

Innovation Fund

The Dutch dairy sector is continually searching for the most sustainable and efficient ways of producing dairy products. Dairy Campus has set up an Innovation Fund to promote innovations. A large number of companies, research, education and knowledge institutions, governments and interest groups are part of the network of Dairy Campus. Together with these organizations, the innovation center is working on sustainable dairy farming.