Systems and methods for determining operating conditions of rotating biological contactor

A drive system for a rotating biological contactor comprising:

• a gearbox assembly coupled to a rotatable shaft extending at least partially along a basin for the rotating biological contactor;
• a motor coupled to said gearbox assembly and configured to drive rotation of said rotatable shaft via said gearbox assembly;
• and
• a sensor coupled to said gearbox assembly, said sensor comprising:
• a first end including a first coupling member releasably coupled to said gearbox assembly at a first connection location at a radial distance from a rotation axis of said rotatable shaft, wherein said gearbox assembly defines a centerline extending between the rotation axis and the first connection location;
• a second end including a second coupling member releasably coupled to a brace to prevent rotation of said sensor and said gearbox assembly when said rotatable shaft is rotated;
• and
• a body extending between said first end and said second end, said sensor adapted to act as a torque arm for said gearbox assembly, wherein at least one of said first coupling member and said second coupling member is adjustable to change a length of said sensor, wherein said sensor is configured to resist rotation of said gearbox assembly and detect a torque load on said body and said gearbox assembly when said rotatable shaft is rotated, wherein said sensor extends along a longitudinal axis between said brace and said gearbox assembly, and wherein the longitudinal axis extends at an obtuse first angle relative to said centerline of said gearbox assembly.

A method for determining operating conditions of a rotating biological contactor, the rotating biological contactor including a rotatable shaft, a plurality of media elements coupled to the rotatable shaft, and a gearbox assembly coupled to the rotatable shaft to cause rotation of the rotatable shaft, the method comprising:

• releasably coupling a first coupling member of a first end of a sensor to the gearbox assembly at a first connection location at a radial distance from a rotation axis of the rotatable shaft, the sensor adapted to act as a torque arm for the gearbox assembly, wherein the gearbox assembly defines a centerline extending between the rotation axis and the first connection location;
• releasably coupling a second coupling member of a second end of the sensor to a brace to prevent rotation of the sensor and the gearbox assembly when the rotatable shaft is rotated, wherein the sensor extends along a longitudinal axis between the brace and the gearbox assembly, and wherein the longitudinal axis extends at an obtuse first angle relative to the centerline of the gearbox assembly, wherein at least one of the first coupling member and the second coupling member is adjustable to change a length of the sensor;
• rotating the rotatable shaft and the plurality of media elements about a rotation axis to treat water flowing through the rotating biological contactor;
• measuring a torque load on the sensor when the rotatable shaft is rotated;
• and
• determining, using a controller communicatively coupled to the sensor, a torque of the rotatable shaft based on the torque load detected by the sensor and the radial distance between the first end and the rotation axis.