Dow Water & Process Solutions Reinforces Commitment To R&D With Latest Successful Piloting Of DOW Ultrafiltration Modules
A global leader in sustainable water separation and purification technologies is investing in long-term testing at its Global Water Technology Center in Tarragona, Spain, where a DOW Ultrafiltration Modules pilot system has provided continuous, quality feedwater to Reverse Osmosis system downstream for almost a year, while also demonstrating a reduction in overall costs.
Dow Water & Process Solutions, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, is demonstrating its dedication to research and development (R&D) through investment in progressive product piloting. As part of this continued research, the company has announced the results of a recent piloting focused on DOW Ultrafiltration technologies, which was carried out at its Global Water Technology Center in Tarragona, Spain, and has seen continuous, excellent quality feedwater supply to the Reverse Osmosis system downstream over a prolonged period.
The pilot program aimed to monitor the quality of the feedwater produced by the DOW Ultrafiltration system, in order to provide support for Dow Water & Process Solutions’ wide range of Ultrafiltration technologies, reinforces its ongoing dedication to R&D and improvement of its products and solutions. The data generated is used both to prove the success of its existing solutions, and to validate and qualify new products before their launch into the market. The results of piloting confirm the sustainable and stable operation of DOW Ultrafiltration commercial modules as a pre-treatment for the Reverse Osmosis system downstream for more than 300 accumulated days, demonstrating their excellence and robustness in a real wastewater reuse application with relatively high organic content.
Verónica García, EMEA technical service and development manager, Dow Water & Process Solutions, explains, “This type of pilot experiment does not usually last more than few weeks and, therefore, the long duration of the DOW Ultrafiltration piloting emphasizes the company’s long-term commitment to product development and continued research.”
Table 1. Feed water quality parameters of the municipal Waste Water Plant
| COD | TOC | ATP | Turbidity | TSS | TVSS | |
| (ppm O2) | (ppm) | (ppb) | NTU | (ppm) | (ppm) | |
| Waste Water FEED | (30.0-50.0) | (10.0-16.0) | (0.42-7.49) | (1.1-26.8) | (1.7-10) | (1.7-10) |
In order to provide real wastewater conditions, the pilot system was fed with secondary effluent from the Vilaseca (Tarragona, Spain) municipal wastewater treatment plant. Typically, due to wastewater feed quality and characteristics, the Reverse Osmosis system cannot befed directly from the secondary effluent of the wastewater treatment plant without interruption. Therefore, to guarantee the required feed quality to the Reverse Osmosis system, a DOW Ultrafiltration SFP-2880 system was integrated upstream.
The autopsies carried out on the Ultrafiltration modules following the end of the piloting demonstrated the absence of broken or damaged fibers, as well as no reported loss in tensile strength and mechanical properties. Based on these test results, it can be concluded that DOW Ultrafiltration elements are an excellent pre-treatment for Reverse Osmosis systems. The permeate produced by the system downstream is suitable for a number of applications, including irrigation, agriculture and golf courses. Precisely, the agricultural sector represents 80 percent of water use in the country, so integrating advanced technologies such as DOW Ultrafiltration elements into the sector can help increase efficiency.
Economic solutions to achieve the highest standards
Another important finding from the study is the associated cost reduction resulting from the combination of DOW Ultrafiltration and DOW FILMTEC Reverse Osmosis technologies. For instance, DOW Ultrafiltration systems require a lower footprint when compared to other methods of conventional pre-treatment technologies, such as sand filtration. In addition, less chemical cleanings are required in the Dow FILMTEC Reverse Osmosis system downstream due to the more suitable feed water provided by the DOW Ultrafiltration system, resulting in longer membrane life, higher plant availability and lower replacement rate of cartridge filters.
Alexander Lane, EMEA Commercial Director, Dow Water & Process Solutions, says, “We are committed to investing in research and development to ensure the highest quality and efficiency of our products, not only in Spain and Europe, but across the globe.”
DOW Ultrafiltration modules stand out for their hydrophilic PVDF hollow fibers, which feature high strength, chemical resistance and low-fouling tendency, as well as their optimized flow configuration (OUT-IN) for high tolerance to a wide variety of feed water types, minimizing the risk of fiber plugging.
Dow Water & Process Solutions’ Global Water Technology Center in Tarragona
With a focus of advancing human progress and sustainable living, Dow Water & Process Solutions’ Global Water Technology Center in Tarragona offers a powerful combination of high-tech R&D lab and plant that has become the largest clean water research and development facility in the world. The plant, which covers more than 3,000 square meters, processes 10,000 daily cubic meters of water, enough to provide for a town of 100,000 people.
The combination of on-site simulation and laboratories enable high-class testing and optimization of water treatment and reuse applications, as exemplified with the DOW Ultrafiltration pilot unit. Research related to areas such as improving quality of desalinated water, minimizing costs and energy consumption, extending the useful life of membranes and increasing the materials’ efficiency is deployed in various pilot units able to asses up to 40 products at real-world scale in order to test all new technologies and applications before their launch to the market.
Source: Dow Water & Process Solutions