The Industry Reduces its Thirst for Water

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Pörner Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH

Italvacuum, Srl

ProMinent GmbH

DECHEMA e.V.

As part of the EU E4Water Project, currently the world’s largest water management research project in the chemical industry, a number of plants in Belgium, France, Holland and Spain are working in unison to significantly reduce fresh water consumption. At Solvic NV and Dow Benelux, water flows from different plants are joined together. Treated effluent from one plant is used as feed water for another plant. The goal is to reduce fresh water consumption by up to 50%.

Membrane process: learning from Mother Nature

The use of membranes in water treatment technology has been on the increase for many years. There are good reasons why that is the case. Membranes run continuously and are fully automatic. Membrane materials are now cheaper and more effective. The membranes operate at lower pressure and that reduces energy consumption.

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More than 2/3 of new desalination capacity being installed worldwide is now based on reverse osmosis. In contrast to traditional evaporation-based technologies, no heat energy is needed for reverse osmosis. This reduces the cost of desalinated water. Even in regions where energy costs are relatively low such as the Middle East, reverse osmosis is increasingly the solution of choice.

Given the right plant design and the right equipment (60% of total energy consumption is used to power the pumps), nothing can match reverse osmosis technology, reports Sulzer.

Sea water is not the only option. Desalinated ground water is another potential source, for example in the dry American South, claims GTAI (Germany Trade & Invest). Texas, Florida and California are leading users of the technology. Seawater desalination is becoming an increasingly significant factor, particularly in California where megaprojects are in the planning pipeline. Demand for high-efficiency pumps and rugged membranes continues to increase. Financing for many projects is now provided by public-private partnerships.

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