NEWS

8

KMS displays its technology at SMAGUA show

US-based membrane technology firm Koch Membrane Systems

Inc (KMS) is exhibiting its products for water reuse and desalination at SMAGUA 2010 – Spain’s leading water exhibition, which is being held during March in Zaragoza.

Engineered to support the region’s grow-ing demand for water and continuous pres-sure to reduce costs, KMS’ key products include membrane bioreactor (MBR) mod-ules and elements. KMS says that it will display its submerged Puron MBR modules for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment.

In more than 100 MBR installations worldwide, the single-header module has proven its reliability and easy-to-operate design, says the firm. To meet the spe-cific requirements of various sizes of MBR projects, the modules are available in con-figurations of 1500 m2, 500 m2 and 250 m2 of membrane area.

The firm’s spiral-wound reverse osmosis/nanofiltration (RO/NF) elements for munici-pal and industrial water treatment will also be on show at the exhibition.

KMS claims that it was the first company to pioneer larger capacity RO elements and says that it currently has the greatest global installed base of these high perform-ance products, with more than 10 commer-cial installations. They dramatically reduce the footprint and improve the economics of medium-scale and large-scale RO projects.

KMS’ latest RO products for medium-scale and large-scale sea-water desalination projects feature a lightweight, large diameter pressure vessel/element combination, utilising the MegaMagnum Plus elements. The hous-ing is made of a glass-reinforced epoxy that is both lighter and stronger than the former fibreglass-reinforced plastic vessels. This new vessel/element combination is a cost-effective alternative to the older 8-inch (20-cm) tech-nology, says the firm.

Contact:

Koch Membrane Systems Inc, 850 Main Street,

Wilmington, MA 01887-3388, USA.

Tel: +1 978 694 7000,

www.kochmembrane.com

ERI helps make fresh water production more affordable

Energy Recovery Inc (ERI), a US-based designer and developer of energy-

recovery systems for desalination appli-cations, has announced that its Pressure Exchanger (PX) devices will be imple-mented in the Victorian Desalination Project – slated to be the largest sea-water reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalina-tion plant in Australia – to help deliver affordable fresh water to the cities of Melbourne and Geelong.

To be constructed by AquaSure (a consor-tium sponsored by Suez Environnement and its affiliate Degrémont, Thiess and Macquarie Capital), the plant will be located in the Wonthaggi region of the State of Victoria. It will provide up to 150 billion litres of water per year – around one-third of Melbourne’s annual water supply – with the possibility of future expansion to 200 billion litres. ERI says that its PX devices will be delivered in two phases during the first half of 2010.

‘For sea-water desalination to work as a sustainable way of solving the problem of glo-bal water scarcity, the water supplied must be affordable. Energy consumption represents an important portion of the overall cost of desali-nation, so it is critical to conserve as much energy as possible,’ stated Remi Lantier, Chief Executive Officer, Degrémont.

‘Energy Recovery’s PX device is a proven tech-nology for significantly reducing energy usage in desalination, which is why we have implemented the devices at large desalination plants all over the world, including in Perth, Australia and Barcelona, Spain. The energy saved by deploying the PX technology will also help us to achieve our overall goal of making the Victorian Desalination Project an environment-friendly, green facility.’

Implementing ERI’s PX devices at the Victorian Desalination Project will save more than 49 MW of energy – which represents savings of $35 mil-lion – and offset an estimated 263 000 tons of CO2 a year. The project is the fifth large-scale desalination plant in Australia to use PX technol-ogy, as devices are currently operating, or con-tracted for installation, at the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant, the Perth-Kwinana plant, the Cape Preston facility in Western Australia and the Adelaide plant in South Australia.

In total, ERI is helping to produce more than 1.1 million m3 (295 million gallons) of fresh water per day across Australia, saving an estimated 108 MW of energy.

‘The Victorian Desalination Project rep-resents a long-term approach to reducing Melbourne region’s increasing water short-ages, and we are honoured that the AquaSure consortium has elected to implement Energy Recovery’s PX devices to reduce energy and deliver affordable fresh water,’ commented Borja Blanco, Senior Vice President, ERI.

‘The PX device has a proven track record at large desalination plants throughout Australia and the rest of the world, validating the tech-nology as the highest-performing, most reliable isobaric energy-recovery device available today.’

ERI says that its PX devices reduce the energy consumption of SWRO systems by up to 60%, making desalination a cost-effective way of supplying clean water. PX devices also reduce the carbon footprint of desalination, saving more than 750 MW of energy and reducing CO2 emissions by more than 4.6 million tons per year worldwide. More than 7000 PX devices are currently deployed or under contract to be installed at desalination plants across the globe.

ERI’s PX device is a rotary positive displace-ment pump that recovers energy from the high-pressure reject stream of SWRO systems – operating at up to 98% efficiency.

ERI is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and has offices in key desalination centres worldwide, including Madrid, Shanghai, Florida and the United Arab Emirates.

Contact:

Energy Recovery Inc, 1908 Doolittle Drive, San Leandro,

CA 94577, USA. Tel: +1 510 483 7370,

www.energyrecovery.com

CaviGulation aims to refine the desalination process

Green-tech’ company Cavitation Technologies Inc (CTI) is develop-

ing a system that is capable of remov-ing pollutants from water. According to the firm, the use of CaviGulation (CG) offers advantages over mem-brane-based technology.

Desalination technology has been around for thousands of years. However, until recently sea-water desalination was a very expensive way of producing water. On average there is roughly 130 g of salt per gallon of sea water. Desalination can reduce salt levels to below 2 g per gallon, which is the limit for safe human consumption, says the firm.

CG is described as a complex process with a multitude of mechanisms operating synergisti-

Membrane Technology February 2010

‘