Industry Water projects
Evides Industry Water
Evides water company is one of the largest suppliers of water and water services to the industry in the Netherlands. Evides Industry Water (EIW) is acting as a full-service water partner to the industry, providing a utility portfolio compiling: industrial water treatment (process & demin), wastewater treatment and integrated treatment (water reuse). In addition EIW designs, finances and operates their custom-made water treatment plants. EIW operates water plants for all major (petro)chemical multinational companies and makes use of both proven technology as well as innovative new process designs.
One of the mayor targets of EIW is to establish water reuse and recycling. Closing the water loop has a positive effect on the environment, as it reduces the industrial use of precious water resources, such as groundwater and drinking water. Effluent water coming from the wastewater treatment plants is a potential feedstock and suited to apply as a source for the production of process water. EIW has excellent experiences with the recycling of wastewater for the production of process water in the Netherlands, for example on the Dow Chemical Terneuzen site (reusing both industrial and municipal effluent to serve as process and demin water). The coming years the water cycle of the site and its Terneuzen surroundings will even be further closed. For this purpose a research project is being carried out (E4Water: 2012-2015) towards a paradigm shift in the chemical industry to create a breakthrough in industrial water treatment by: enhanced reuse, recycling and valorization of complex wastewater. For this case and other examples, see: www.evides.nl
Research projects Industry Water group
Examples of running research projects on industry water:
Composition and biodegradability of asphalt fume condensate
Asphalt fume condensates are produced during the recovery of heat from fumes generated during the production of asphalt for road pavement. A major constituent of asphalt is bitumen, a product from the distillation of crude oil, which contains various aliphatic and aromatic compounds. In the asphalt production bitumen is mixed with sand and stones, and the mixture is heated. During this process fumes are generated that consist of water vapor and the volatile fraction of the organic compounds. These hot fumes are typically evacuated through a chimney and released to the atmosphere. However, when heat is recovered from the hot fumes water will condensate together with the soluble fraction of the organic compounds. Heat recovery enables the emission reduction of both carbon and potentially harmful compounds. The condensate offers an opportunity to be reused if the dissolved compounds can be removed or degraded. The objective of this project, in collaboration with BAM Infra Asfalt, is to investigate the composition and biodegradability of asphalt fume condensate, and to assess the feasibility of treatment techniques. One option that will be investigated is biological treatment using anaerobic technology with specialized microorganisms.
Methodology development for make-up water testing on lab-scale
Laboratory scale and pilot scale investigation on the conditioning of make-up water for cooling towers with the purpose of increasing the cycles of concentration and reducing the use of chemicals. The research includes the development of a laboratory setup to test corrosion, scaling and biofouling in softened, concentrated water. This project is carried out in collaboration with Evides Industriewater.
Delft Blue Water: sustainable freshwater supply for Delfland region and greenhouse farming
The project focuses on water reuse pilot research and in the long run full scale effluent water reuse from the Harnaschpolder sewage treatment plant. The main activity of the project is to conduct research on demonstration scale, which focuses on the production of two different water types: one for ground water supply and one for high quality greenhouse water supply. The research and the business case studies are almost completed. The next step will be the realization of a full scale water reuse plant for the production of greenhouse and surface water. For this case and reuse studies Website: www.delftbluewater.nl. Contact : Henri Spanjers
Fundamentals of demin and process water quality aspects
Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry (E4Water). The chemical industry provides the highest potential for increasing eco-efficiency in industrial water management. E4Water addresses crucial process industry needs, to overcome bottlenecks and barriers for an integrated and energy efficient water management. The main objective is to develop, test and validate new integrated approaches, methodologies and process technologies for a more efficient and sustainable management of water in chemical industry with cross-fertilization possibilities to other industrial sectors. E4water unites in its consortium large chemical industries, leading European water sector companies and innovative RTD centers and universities, active in the area of water management and also involved in WssTP and SusChem European Technology Platforms and collaborating with water authorities. E4Water aims to achieve an expected reduction of 20-40% in water use, 30-70% in wastewater production, 15-40% in energy use and up to 60% direct economic benefits at its industrial case study sites. E4Water builds on state-of-the-art and new basic R&D concepts. Their realization, improvement, utilization and validation, with the compromise of early industrial adaptors, are clearly innovative. The project focuses on refining wastewater up to multifunctional reusable water for cooling tower, demi water, etc. Techniques used include nano filtration, and reversed electrodialysis (EDR). Partners include DECHEMA e.V., Evides Industry Water, DOW and TU Delft. Website: www.e4water.eu. Contact for TU Delft: Luuk Rietveld
(Hydro)thermolysis of organic contaminants and treatment chemicals steam-water cycle conditions and its impact on FAC
Demineralized water for steam generation has to meet stringent guidelines in order to protect the system from scaling and corrosion. The organic carbon that remains after treatment or that is accidentally introduced, enters the boiler and breaks down at high temperature into (amongst others) organic acids. These are potentially corrosive and affect online conductivity measurement in the cycle. Ammonia is unable to provide sufficient protection against two-phase Flow Accelerated Corrosion (FAC), because of its high volatility. Alkalizing amines provide better protection in these wet steam areas, but possess limited thermal stability and can in fact produce the same organic acids that come from (hydro)thermolysis of contaminants. In this project, the behavior of contaminants and treatment chemicals at high temperature and pressure is investigated, which provides the input to be able to perform relevant two-phase FAC experiments. PhD researcher: David Moed, Contact: Luuk Rietveld
Application of extreme bio-treatment for recycling industrial water
The aim of this study is to develop an engineering solution for the bioconversion of organic compounds (toxic/recalcitrant) existing in industrial wastewaters streams under extreme conditions. Boundary conditions are set by maximized recovery of resources (energy, water) and minimized consumption of resources (fossil energy). The research will focus on the most suitable technology for this purpose (i.e. anaerobic membrane bioreactors) to encourage reclamation of process waters for reuse. Attention will be paid to the selection/ bioaugmentation of specific biomass and its growth in highly filterable sludge. PhD researcher: Julian Muñoz-Sierra. Contact: Henri Spanjers
RINEW: Ceramic membranes for direct treatment of sewage water
Ceramic nanofiltration membrane filtration is the key step in an innovative treatment concept for production of different water qualities (e.g. demiwater) for the industry directly from domestic waste water. The goal is to close the water cycle and to save as much energy as possible and to recover valuable resources from the waste water. The ceramic nanofiltration is able to concentrate the raw waste water at least 5 times. The permeate is directly used to produce demiwater with reverse osmosis. The concentrate is going to a digester to produce biogas and to recover phosphate. Further treatment will polish the water and will recover nutrients. Overall energy savings are expected if this innovative demiwater production is compared to the conventional demiwater production from raw waste water. PhD researcher: Franca Kramer. Contact: Dr.ir. Bas Heijman
Characterization of salt streams resulting from zero liquid discharge systems in the petrochemical industry
Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) process applies advanced wastewater treatment technologies to purify and reuse all the wastewater produced within an industry. The purified water should meet reuse requirements for various production processes such as cooling systems and boilers. Typical treatment technologies used are bio-treatment, ultra-filtration, reverse osmosis and electro-deionization. Resulting salt stream characteristics depend on the treatment techniques used. The salt streams can be purified and used in other applications or industries. In this project an overview will be made of technologies to purify these salt streams in an application of the petrochemical industry. Research team: Bas Heijman, David de Ridder, Ran Shang. Contact: Henri Spanjers
Nitrogen to Power; energy generation while removing ammonium from waste streams
In the N2kWh project KU Leuven (Belgium) and TU Delft (the Netherlands) collaborate with a consortium of seven companies. The project is funded under the novel STW-IWT Dutch-Flemish bilateral program. The project investigates a novel concept to address N based pollutants (merely ammonium) in waste streams. Instead of oxidizing the reduced N compounds, they will be concentrated and converted into electricity using fuel cell technology. Based on proof of principle research we anticipate that project results will lead to a complete paradigm shift in which reduced N pollutants in waste streams are no longer regarded as a pollutant that demands energy for disposal, but as a resource instead.
N2kWh is based on the idea that nitrogen (N) in waste streams beneficially can be converted into electricity using a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC). Project results will lead to a paradigm shift in which N in waste streams is no longer regarded as a pollutant, which demands energy for disposal, but as a resource instead. So far, environmental technology innovations are merely focused on reducing the energy consumption for N removal, but none of existing projects recognize reduced N as a potential energy source. Development of in-depth knowledge on the recovery of reduced N from waste streams is imperative for enabling the proposed paradigm shift. The overall objective of the N2kWh is to acquire knowledge on mechanisms that can be deployed for the recovery and utilization of reduced N from waste streams. Since nitrogen is present in a wide range of waste streams, the project is subdivided into two research tracks, based on the type of waste stream that is addressed (1) Ammonia (NH3) stripping by biogas under alkaline conditions, and (2) Physicochemical N extraction from liquid waste stream through e.g. pervaporation. Each research track will be carried out by a PhD candidate, track (1) at KU Leuven and track (2) at TU Delft. However, there will be an intensive collaboration between the two research groups. PhD Researcher: Niels van Linden; Contact: Henri Spanjers
BioXtreme – AnMBR for wastewater treatment under extreme conditions.
The aim of this research is to analyze the biological degradation process of phenol, p-cresol, and resorcinol in anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR) under mesophilic conditions and the degradation of phenol under thermophilic conditions.
This PhD project is part of the BioXtreme project, which its goal is to show the potential of AnMBR technology for the treatment of chemical wastewaters under extreme conditions. So, in this PhD research the extreme conditions are: 1) high toxicity, be given by the phenolic compounds and its mixture; 2) high temperature, given by the thermophilic (48-55 °C) operation.
Especial attention will be paid to unravel the biochemical, microbiological and physicochemical processes related to the degradation of the toxic compounds under the mesophilic and the thermophilic conditions, as well as the study of the membrane performance (filterability, clogging potential, etc.). PdH researcher: Victor S. Garcia Rea. Supervisor: Henri Spanjers