Chemical Engineering September 2010 - 21

Veolia Water Solutions and Technologies
Newsfront
FROM SEA TO
SHINING SEA
Desalination
technologies are
improving to make
seawater and brackish
water treatment more
efficient and cost
effective for industry
A
though the municipal water demand
is considerably greater
than that of industry, many of
the municipal needs are addressed
by relatively basic technologies,
while industrial requirements
can only be met with advanced treatment
options. And, as industrial water
demands continue to grow due to
regulatory restrictions and mandates,
water treatment providers are developing
innovative desalination technologies,
which allow saltwater and
brackish water supplies to be cleaned
up in a more cost effective, energy efficient
manner.
" Municipalities are beginning to
reserve fresh water supplies for the
population, which means industry is
now required to find alternative water
sources, such as seawater and brackish
water to support manufacturing
processes, " notes Gary Martin, segment
general manager of water and
wastewater solutions, with Siemens
Water Technologies (Warrendale, Pa.).
" We're finding this especially true in
applications for the power, chemical
and mining industries where we are
increasingly being asked to find solutions
for retrofits, expansions, upgrades
or new installations. "
FIGURE 2. This photo shows an installation of an RO high-pressure pump and the
energy recovery devices (in the background)
Typically brackish water is used
more broadly in industry, but that
doesn't preclude the use of desalination
of seawater as a key technology
solution to the overall issue of industrial
water scarcity around the globe.
" Just as you have multiple ways to
generate electricity, such as coal, wind,
sun and gas based on geography and
atmospheric conditions, the same can
be said of water, " notes Joseph Such,
general manager of reverse osmosis
and electrodialysis systems with GE
Power & Water (Trevose, Pa.). " We can
clean up water using different technologies
such as desalination of seawater
or reuse of brackish water. Clearly,
with water scarcity, we are looking at
all the different levers we can pull to
assist with this issue, and that may
include desalination of saltwater if the
customer is near the sea, or reusing
municipal or industrial wastewater if
the customer is inland. "
He continues to say that this will
remain a persistent issue for industry
even in areas where fresh water
is plentiful due to mandates that prohibit
facilities from disposing of wastewater,
permits being withheld due to
high water use or by economic drivers
such as the increasing cost of fresh
water. " In any of those situations, desalination
will undoubtedly be part of
the solution. "
Industrial technologies
Although municipal- and industrialdesalination
needs share some common
technologies in that most advanced
treatment technology uses
membranes for removal of suspended
solids and dissolved solids, in municipal
applications these two methods
are usually sufficient to meet the
quality requirements. In industrial
applications, however, the water often
needs additional treatments, such as
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM SEPTEMBER 2010 21
FIGURE 1. Pictured is a Chevron facility in
San Ardo, Calif., where Veolia's OPUS system
has been operating
Siemens Water Technologies
http://WWW.CHE.COM
Chemical Engineering September 2010

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