Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/459793
RESEARCH February-March 2015 | Desalination & Water Reuse | 31 | A pairing of lead players in China's water and petrochemicals industries have launched a venture that they claim will "open up a new way for zero liquid discharge (ZLD) in seawater desalination and comprehensive utilization of seawater resources with low energy consumption." Chinese water treatment company, Beijing Woteer Water Technology, has teamed up with Fushun Research Institute of Petroleum and Petrochemicals (FRIPP) to open a laboratory dedicated to developing forward osmosis in seawater desalination. The laboratory, in the Changping district of Beijing, is equipped to evaluate forward osmosis technology in upstream and downstream oil and gas and power industry applications. "As the fi rst forward osmosis technology laboratory of industry wastewater ZLD and seawater desalination in China, it is equipped with a world-class research and development team and the most advanced equipment," the partners said in a statement. Beijing Woteer has exclusive rights to Oasys Water's Membrane Brine Concentration (MBC) technology in China's oil and gas, power and other industrial markets. Woteer has established the fi rst domestic forward osmosis MBC pilot system for seawater desalination application in Huang Hua, Hebei province. "Forward osmosis technology has strong competitiveness in brine concentration and seawater desalination," said Beijing Woteer. It said using a system "based on the advanced pretreatment technology and forward osmosis technology", the laboratory aimed to provide a "reliable, advanced and cost-effective ZLD solution for high chemical oxygen demand wastewater, high-salinity wastewater and high heavy metals wastewater from petrochemical, coal chemical, power industry, metallurgy and other industries." The laboratory will seek to achieve low-energy seawater desalination and to produce brine with salinity of more than 22% using forward osmosis technology. Chinese duo launches zero liquid research venture US utility, American Water, has won more than US$ 200,000 in grant support from the WateReuse Research Foundation for a study to assess pathogen removal during the collection of seawater for desalination through sub-surface slant wells. The US$ 330,000 research project will be carried out at a test slant well currently under construction in Monterey County, California by American Water's subsidiary, California American Water. "This research is important to the entire water industry," said American Water's Dr Zia Bukhari. "The science produced by this study will help defi ne guidelines for water treatment when ocean water is collected through the environmentally preferred approach of subsurface intakes," he added. Slant wells are drilled diagonally beneath the beach and extend under the ocean fl oor to draw water through sand, and thereby mitigate the impact on marine life associated with conventional open intakes. Drawing water through sand provides a fi ltration step in the purifi cation of ocean water that can reduce the need to remove bacteria before and after desalination. The research project proposes to look at human pathogens to see what degree of treatment is achieved in slant wells and to defi ne further additional steps to ensure pathogens are removed. "Slant wells are known for their benefi ts to marine life. But, they may provide an additional benefi t of pathogen reduction," said Cal Am director of engineering, Rich Svindland. He added: "If this proves to be the case, there could be signifi cant savings in pre- and post-treatment costs for desalination projects that employ slant well technology. "Our fi ndings will be extremely valuable for water resource managers and policy makers across the country." Slant well test draws US$ 200,000 grant for pathogen removal research Grundfos wins US$ 1.1 million Singapore grant for wastewater treatment research Singapore has awarded pump and water technologies company, Grundfos, a S$ 1.4 million (US$ 1.1 million) grant to develop a novel wastewater fi ltration technology which the company says can "signifi cantly reduce" capital investment and operational costs for wastewater treatment. Grundfos' research and development project will focus on the industrial treatment of wastewater using a fi lter made from activated sludge. The grant – from the Singapore Environment and Water Industry Programme Offi ce which is led by Singapore's national water agency, PUB – will include funding for a pilot demonstration of the so-called cake fi lter following successful proof of concept. Activated sludge contains a suspension of bacteria used to clean wastewater by feeding impurities, in the water. The cake fi lter comprises activated sludge on a porous support which is treated to meet hydraulic specifi cations and to take out impurities. After use in removing secondary effl uents from wastewater a backwash removes the used fi lter. Grunfos said operating costs of this technology are less those for ultrafi ltration, because it uses less energy and requires less maintenance. "The cake fi ltration technology requires very little energy as it can operate under gravity," Grundfos said. The manufacturer said the effl uent discharge from its fi lter cake is comparable in standard to that of membrane fi ltration, while halving the cost of effl uent polishing. There is further potential to treat the fi ltrate and recycle it for irrigation or industrial uses Grundfos said. The research will enable the development of a number of wastewater treatment solutions according to Grundfos.