Articles
Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Introduces New Ceramic Membrane Technology At Steel Industry Show
May 4, 2010
Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS) will introduce a proprietary, cost-effective technology for recovery of spent caustic from alkaline cleaning operations in the metal finishing industry at the Association of Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) conference that opens today at David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.
VWS' CeraMem® ceramic ultrafiltration technology recovers 95 - 99% of the spent caustic solution from the cleaning section, thereby reducing waste treatment requirements and hauling volumes to 1 - 5% of the original treatment and hauling effort, resulting in significantly reduced costs for steel finishing operations. A demonstration model of the technology will be on display by N.A. Water Systems in the Veolia booth (#1319) at AIST.
VWS installed a caustic recovery system utilizing the proprietary technology for alkaline cleaning at a major US-based finishing mill in January 2010, with only minor equipment modifications needed to adapt the line to the new operation. The system effectively removes oil and grease, suspended solids, metals and other contaminants from the spent alkaline cleaner, producing a high-quality, regenerated cleaning solution that requires minimal chemical make-up to enable reuse in the process. The recovered cleaning solution is fed into the cleaning section tanks with a small amount of caustic and additives added to make up for losses in the process. Since commissioning of the system in February 2010, the system has successfully operated in excess of the design recovery rate with no drop in line quality.
The benefits of the CeraMem® system include savings from significantly reduced make-up cleaner usage, savings from significantly reduced spent caustic treatment and waste hauling fees, excellent metal surface cleaning section tank performance, and considerably reduced handling in the alkaline cleaning process. VWS supplies treatment systems and chemicals for various steel industry applications including alkaline cleaning operations, supply water, make-up water, cooling tower blowdown, wastewater, and recycle/reuse.
Veolia Environnement offers a full range of services to the steelmaking industry including water, waste management, energy and logistics. All of these services as well as the local subsidiary providers will be represented in their booth.
About N.A. Water Systems, LLC
N.A. Water Systems, LLC, is a Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies company that
provides water and wastewater solutions ranging from treatability studies to complete turnkey
installation of treatment systems. With expertise based on 100 years of experience and a
staff of approximately 120 employees, N.A. Water Systems meets the needs of both
industrial and municipal customers.
About Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies
Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies, subsidiary of Veolia Water, is a global provider of
technology solutions and design-build services in water treatment. With over 9,500
employees in 57 countries, Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies recorded revenue of $3.6
billion in 2009. Among its North American subsidiaries, Biothane, Crown Solutions, HPD,
John Meunier, N.A. Water Systems, and Whittier Filtration serve the industrial markets.
About Veolia Water
Veolia Water, the water division of Veolia Environnement, is the world leader in water and
wastewater services. Veolia Water provides water service to 95 million people and
wastewater service to 66 million. With 95,789 employees in 66 countries, its 2009 revenue
amounted to $18.1B.
About Veolia Environnement
Veolia Environnement is the worldwide reference in
environmental services. With more than 310,000 employees, the company has operations all
around the world and provides tailored solutions to meet the needs of municipal and
industrial customers in four complementary segments: water management, waste
management, energy management and freight and passenger transportation. Veolia
Environnement recorded revenue of $49.8B in 2009 from operations in 74 countries. For more information visit www.veolia.com, www.industries.veolia.com
