The Santa Barbara desalination plant located in the south-eastern part of Curaçao provides drinking water to about half of the population of this Caribbean island. With an average precipitation of approximately 500 mm, rainwater is the only natural source of freshwater in the island. Government efforts to address the water shortage problem date back to the 20s of the last century. Initially based on evaporation, the seawater desalination evolved into the reverse osmosis technology in the 90s. After several years of experimenting with RO, Aqualectra, the municipal supplier of potable water and electricity for Curaçao, took the decision to move forward with this technology and in 2003 started a project to build a SWRO desalination plant.
After an international tender process, the Israel Electric Company (IEC) chose Fluence to design, manufacture, and supply containerized ultrapure water production systems for use as makeup water for heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG) and for NOx emission reduction at recently upgraded power plants across Israel. More than 15 units of 20 m3/h production modules, each fitted in two 40-foot shipping containers, were provided to seven power plants. Their compact design allowed for ease of installation, operation, and maintenance while meeting the customer’s demanding engineering standards.
Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are widely used in potable water, wastewater, and industrial applications. However, a major issue in the application of RO membrane technology for desalination and wastewater reclamation is membrane fouling. It limits operating flux, decreases water production, and increases power consumption. Membrane fouling also increases the need for RO plants to perform periodical membrane CIP procedure. These problems decrease process efficiency, increase operation cost, and raise environmental issues related to the CIP solutions disposal.
Hayogev is a residential development in the rural area of Jezreel Valley, with 1000 homes, agricultural fields and dairy farms. Located in an open field next to small farms, the local treatment facility handles wastewater from HaYogev and Midrach Oz. The customer was looking for a localized wastewater treatment solution to replace the existing pond system, which faced difficulties in treating the wastewater due to high levels of nutrients. A new state-level regulation concerning reclaimed water required the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) operator to reduce the nutrients in the effluent stream. The solution had to be odorless and quiet, have low power consumption, and use the existing pond and structure.
The 64,000 sq ft Chesapeake Bay Watershed includes parts of MD, VA, WV, PA, and NY. Of the 1,000s of WWTPs supporting nearly 18 million people in the watershed, 470 are designated by EPA as significant sources of nutrients and TSS. Algal blooms reduce DO levels in the water, killing plant and animal life — from marsh grasses to blue crabs to rockfish. Learn how De Nora TETRA Denite technology is treating 450+ MGD in the Bay.
As the cost of and demand for potable water increases, engineers, planners, and utilities need reliable, innovative methods for protecting this valuable resource. Cost-effective and environmentally sustainable wastewater collection and treatment systems are vital components in the water cycle and therefore require careful analysis. While there is no single solution for every site or community, traditional ‘big-pipe’ systems are rarely appropriate in sensitive environments; fortunately, today there are more options than ever to consider.
The Bordeaux region of St. Thomas had a pressing need for a wastewater treatment plant that produces high effluent quality. Its existing plant was old and did not meet regulation nor industry standards. Fluence, together with its partner SD&C Inc., built an MABR-based wastewater treatment plant from the ground up, utilizing whatever existing pieces of equipment could be used from the old plant.
Toray UF membrane modules were piloted over a fifteen-week period to help service the growing demand for clean water in southwest North Dakota. The outcome, as part of the Southwest Pipeline Project (SWPP), would be construction of the Oliver-Mercer-North Dunn (OMND) Water Treatment Plant.
To better comply with the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2) the City of Delaware (Ohio) piloted Torayfil hollow-fiber PVDF membrane modules to treat surface water for their 7.2 mgd full-scale facility. After significant review of the data, cost, and other factors, the City and URS selected Toray to utilize in the full scale design. Read the full case study to learn more.
Municipal water services continually utilize improved technologies so that they can offer their customers higher water quality. Water can be improved by partially softening the water, which results in lower detergent consumption and lower scaling on kitchen utensils and water fittings.
An innovative approach to high quality ice production has been adopted by the new Ice Palace in Moscow.
Ammonia is used as a cleaning and bleaching agent in the production of fertilizers, plastics, explosives, and many other products.
Lincoln Electric Systems (LES) recently commissioned a membrane decarbonation system using 3M™ Liqui-Cel™ EXF-14x28 Series Membrane Contactors to remove CO2 prior to their mixed bed deionizers.
Many manufacturing processes, analytical measurements, and other industrial processes that involve aqueous solutions are adversely affected by bubbles in the fluid stream. 3M™ Liqui-Cel™ SP Series Membrane Contactors provide a very simple, cost effective solution to help eliminate bubbles from such processes.
AnMBR is the latest innovation in anaerobic reactor configuration: a combination of anaerobic digestion and membrane bioreactor technology, which concentrates solid digestate without the use of centrifuges or dissolved air flotation (DAF).
Aspiral™ is a smart, packaged wastewater treatment solution based on the Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR) technology.
As part of Toray’s MEMBRAY MBR series, the NHP (New High Performance) module features thin membrane flat sheets that are densely packed into easily interchangeable cassettes. These cassettes allow for a higher packing density than what was originally thought possible with flat plate designs. The thin membranes are also highly flexible and allow for more movement, resulting in increased vibrations during aeration. This helps dislodge sludge and improve cleaning efficiency, all with less energy use.
This revolutionary aerobic wastewater treatment solution is modular and reduces energy usage by up to 90% compared to conventional treatment.
The eFLOW Series controls the specific resistance value of ultra-pure water by supplying carbon dioxide through a hollow fiber gas permeable membrane uniquely developed by DIC. This makes it possible to avoid dust re-adhering, and to prevent static electricity damage to the substrate pattern.
CSM NF membranes selectively removes divalent and monovalent ions, making it ideal for a wide range of applications. Typical uses include production of food & beverage, dye recovery, and water softening and removal of specific impurities (i.e. color, DBP, THM) for potable use. CSM NF Membranes are constructed with either a polyamide or piperazine thin-film layer, and are available in various sizes. Inquire within for custom-engineered solutions.
Jon Loveland, Global Practice Leader - Alternative Water Supply at Black & Veatch, shares insight on a major development for membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems and potable reuse.
If you don’t need the performance of an ultrafiltration membrane but also want to avoid the large footprint of a conventional media filter, you might want to consider FiltraFast extreme rate compressible media filters. As Ryan Hess, Director of Advanced Separation with SUEZ Water Technologies suggests in this Water Talk interview, “They provide roughly ten times the hydraulic loading rate of conventional media filters.”
Toray Membrane USA introduced an aptly-named product at WEFTEC 2017, the NHP (New High Performance) module for membrane bioreactors (MBRs). Toray's Peter Waldron sat down with Water Online to discuss how the NHP, which features thin membrane flat sheets densely packed into easily interchangeable cassettes, differs from current industry offerings and how these features benefit MBR operation.
In this Water Online Radio exclusive interview, Fred Wiesler, Global Director of Sales for the QUA Group, discusses some of the company’s key products, including the EnviQ that uses a flat sheet PVDF membrane, and has a .04-micron pore size. It provides ultrafiltration quality water, with the strength of a PVDF flat sheet membrane.
In the early 90s, Bio-Microbics introduced membrane treatment technology, traditionally used in drinking water treatment plants, to the decentralized treatment market. In this Water Online Radio interview, Jennifer Cisneros, Director of Marketing for Bio-Microbics and Chair of the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association’s Marketing Committee, discusses the use of the onsite technology at an oyster bar where Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) was about three times the level of ammonia.
Born out of UCLA and the California Inner Systems Institute, Water Planet is focused on revolutionizing water reuse through next generation membrane technology. As Erik Hoek, CEO of Water Planet, explains in this Water Online Radio interview, the company has two core technologies.
An MABR is essentially a biological wastewater treatment process that utilizes seemingly passive aeration through oxygen-permeable membranes. Oxygen transfer through the MABR membranes is diffusion based: driven by concentration differences such that oxygen passes from air at atmospheric pressure into water at a higher hydrostatic pressure. This oxygen transfer mechanism, wherein air is supplied to the process at very low pressure, is the reason MABRs have significantly lower energy consumption compared to other wastewater treatment processes, such as conventional activated sludge (CAS), that utilize diffusers. This energy savings is one of the key reasons MABRs are gaining traction in the municipal wastewater industry.
The innovative CoMag System from Evoqua infuses magnetite into chemical floc to make it heavier, significantly improving clarifier performance. This video explains how the CoMag® System works and how it can be used to increase capacity, enhance clarifier performance and achieve total phosphorous of 0.05 mg/L.
Fluence’s Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR) technology is an innovative wastewater treatment solution which saves up to 90 percent energy consumption. It is the ideal solution for decentralized applications such as rural villages, housing developments, municipalities, hotels, resorts, and golf courses.
Surrounded by agricultural fields where water is a vital resource, the rural region of Hayogev, Israel chose Fluence’s energy-efficient Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR) solution for wastewater treatment suitable for reuse.
As the cost of and demand for potable water increases, engineers, planners, and utilities need reliable, innovative methods for protecting this valuable resource. Cost-effective and environmentally sustainable wastewater collection and treatment systems are vital components in the water cycle and therefore require careful analysis. While there is no single solution for every site or community, traditional ‘big-pipe’ systems are rarely appropriate in sensitive environments; fortunately, today there are more options than ever to consider.
3M is dedicated to the continued development and advancement of membrane technology. We also offer our technical expertise to support our customer from initial system design through module start-up and optimization. Watch the full video to learn more about our capabilities.
Water membranes are widely used in the water treatment processes. They have become a fundamental player in separation technology because of the fact that they require no additional chemicals and their relatively low energy requirements.
Water membranes have been applied during the extraction of produced water, treatment of waste/sewage water and processing of surface water all with huge success levels. Conventional water treatment techniques are over time incorporating in their processes the use on water membranes. Commercialization of membranes was first done in the 1970s and 1980s.
Membrane technology is chiefly based on the presence of pores on the membranes that make them semi-permeable. The simple principle on which water membranes work is such that the semi-permeability of water membranes ensures that only water is allowed to pass through a specific membrane while trapping unwanted particles and substances.
In both microfiltration and ultra filtration, membranes provide an effective barrier for arresting suspended solids in water.
To aid substances to penetrate across a semi-permeable membrane the following steps are undertaken: Electric potential introduction, high pressure application and ensuring that the concentration gradient on both sides of the membrane is maintained. The surface area of the membrane also determines the efficiency of the membrane in use.
The only drawback on water membranes is that they cannot remove substances that are actually dissolved in the water such as phosphorus, nitrates and heavy metal ions. The following are categories of membranes: Microfiltration (MF), Ultra filtration (UF), Reverse osmosis (RO), and Nanofiltration (NF) membranes
Ultra filtration membranes employ polymer technology with chemically created microscopic pores that trap dissolved substances therefore eliminating the possible use of any coagulants.
