Industrial water reuse with integrated membrane system increases the sustainability of the chemical manufacturing

Abstract

The DECO water treatment facility (built and operated by Evides Industriewater B.V.) is using an integrated membrane system to produce demineralised water for the production facilities of Dow Benelux B.V in Terneuzen, the Netherlands. The system consists of large-scale continuous microfiltration (CMF) unit and two-pass reverse osmosis (RO) unit with FILMTECTM membranes. It is the fi rst time in the Netherlands that domestic waste water is re-used in such a large scale for industrial use. This is an excellent example of a full scale process which was adjusted to preserve scarce fresh water resources in the region. The main goal—to minimize the environmental impact and to maximize water recovery through water recycling loops, thereby supporting the chemical industry movement to improve sustainability. This paper discusses the operational experience of the first 18 months operation with wastewater. The plant was started in 2000 and was originally designed to desalinate estuary water, due the lack of fresh wa...