Challenge
Growing shortage of water increases the need to use unconventional water supplies such as seawater or waste water for industrial processes, irrigation and potable water.
Desalination and water reuse can help balance the supply and demand. Reverse osmosis (RO) technology, commonly used in desalination, utilizes membranes which need to be maintained free of scales and deposits, cleaned and changed regularly.
Kemira solution
Keeping membrane surface clean from organic and inorganic fouling is a significant issue for plants using RO technology.
With adequate pretreatment membranes can be kept clean for longer which reduces the downtime required for cleaning and enhances the lifetime of membranes. A well designed chemical pretreatment also helps to control the energy consumption which increases when membranes become less permeable. With the right chemistry, not only the membrane performance can be improved, but the entire process becomes more stable and cost-effective.
Each desalination or water reuse plant can have a different set-up. Thus, for simulating the conditions at customers’ plants in different parts of the world Kemira has built several pilot facilities. One of them serving the Indian region is located in Hyderabad (pictured above).
A complete product portfolio for desalination as a goal
“We are developing products and testing them in the pilot facilities because each plant can have a unique setup,” says Sudip Sarkar, Managing Director of Kemira India. “We need to be sure of the compatibility of our chemicals in each case.”
The Indian facility is highly configurable and can be modified to match each customer’s plant. The exact water source is simulated so Kemira can identify the optimum solution for every customer.
“This pilot facility is a platform for Kemira to showcase its capabilities, giving us the means to show customers hard data,” Sarkar remarks.
The desalination and water reuse project is part of the Center of Water Efficiency Excellence (SWEET) program. In 2010 Kemira and VTT established ‘The Center of Water Efficiency Excellence’ (SWEET) to develop more sustainable and energy efficient solutions for water treatment and water-intensive industries.
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Kemira is present at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille, France March 12-17, 2012.