Siemens Water Technologies Research Articles

Performance Analysis of a Novel Compact Flotation Unit

The oil and gas industry produces large quantities of water as a by-product of petroleum production. Discharge specification of produced water requires efficient management and sophisticated technology. Conventional technologies such as those based on gravity separation, cyclonic separation method, filtration techniques, flotation technique, and natural gas/air sparge tube systems are used for treating produced water. However, most, if not all, of these technologies require a large footprint. This problem has created a challenge for the produced water industry, as well as for operators managing the offshore production facilities. Responding to the challenge at hand, Siemens Water Technologies Corporation has developed a novel compact flotation unit (CFU) equipped with a dissolved gas flotation (DGF) pump for treating produced water. The CFU has a small foot print and shorter residence time. The DGF pump is equipped with a unique, dual-sided impeller, which pulls the blanket gas on one side and the produced water on the other. Under applied backpressure, the gas entering the DGF pump dissolves in a portion of a recycled, cleaned water stream. The dissolved gas generates bubbles due to the pressure drop when the mixture of produced water and gas passes through a special valve before entering the CFU. The ratio of the inlet produced water flow rate to the DGF pump output rate plays an important role in optimum separation of oil droplets from the produced water. Besides the above-mentioned ratio, generation of an adequate number and size of bubbles provides another critical key factor in efficient operation of the CFU system. To validate our theoretical approach regarding the controlled forced vortex of the multiphase flow, we performed various tests in the shop facility of Siemens Water Technologies Corporation, as well as on a platform facility offshore Louisiana. We used a response surface methodology technique to analyze the CFU performance data and to generate an optimum surface response for free oil and grease removal efficiency. For optimizing the size of the piping and CFU dimensions, we used the rigorous yet simple principles of the constrained similitude. The free oil removal efficiency results in the shop and field tests, for CFU without the use of packing material, were satisfactory. Additionally, we found that CFU system tests resulted in the removal efficiency of water soluble oil (WSO). We did not expect this additional outcome as the CFU system was not designed to affect the removal of WSO.

Siemens strengthens its water services business in Europe

Siemens Water Technologies is expanding the range of water treatment services and products that it offers to companies in Europe.

Siemens commissions MBR testing facility in Singapore

In Singapore, Siemens Water Technologies Corp and the Public Utilities Board (PUB), the country's national water agency, are collaborating on a membrane bioreactor (MBR) testing facility.

Siemens expands its water services business in South-East Asia

Siemens Water Technologies is expanding its water treatment services and products business in South-East Asia.

Siemens provides treatment packages for oil production

Modec International Inc has selected Siemens Water Technologies to provide sea-water reverse osmosis (SWRO) systems for several floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels that are to be operated in deep-water locations. Siemens is also supplying a wastewater reuse system to one of Brazil's largest refineries.

Siemens' MBR helps China restore Taihu Lake's water quality

Siemens Water Technologies has commissioned a wastewater treatment system for the Wuxi Xincheng Plant in China's Jiangsu Province.

Municipal tertiary treatment: Disc filters enhanced by pleated configuration

How can disc filtration make an impact in continuous wastewater treatment? Miguel Gutierrez of Siemens Water Technologies explains the fundamentals of disc filtration and how it can provide an economical and sustainable solution for municipal tertiary treatment applications.

IonRight system offers an alternative to portable deionisation

Siemens Water Technologies of Warrendale, Pennsylvania, USA, is introducing the IonRight system, which is described as the latest technology for providing industries such as the metal-finishing and microelectronics sectors with high-purity water from potable feed-water.

Siemens reports first use of its mobile services outside US

Siemens Water Technologies of Warrendale, Pennsylvania, says that its mobile water treatment technology is being used for the first time outside North America at a site in the Middle East.

Biosolids Drying: Solving Municipal Regulation and Cost Problems

Municipalities around the world are challenged with growing populations, changing regulations and rising costs. Heat drying technologies have been used for many years to reduce biosolids volumes, and recently, there have been developments in the drying industry surrounding safety, air quality, beneficial reuse and heat recovery (Igoe, 2002). There are two main categories of drying technologies: convective (or direct) and contact (or indirect). In this paper, the direct Convective Thermal Dryer (CTD) system and indirect Ecoflash® Thin Layer Dryer are discussed and illustrated through municipal examples. The projects discussed in this paper are:The City of Corona, California, USA, which uses a Convective Thermal Dryer (CTD) system to reduce volume and disposal costs of biological biosolids generated at the city's two wastewater treatment plants. The project is unique because the CTD system uses waste heat from the City's power plant to promote the production of beneficial reuse, Class A biosolids.The Dundalk drying plant in Ireland, which is the first plant designed and built by Siemens Water Technologies to be in full compliance with the European ATEX (Atmosphere Explosible) Safety Regulation Directive 94/9/EC.Disposal of dewatered sludge quickly becomes a big problem for Cagliari, a city on Sardinia Island in Italy, whose economy is based on tourism. They use the Ecoflash® dryer to reduce biosolids hauling and disposal costs.

Siemens helps establish MBR validation plant and water research laboratory

Siemens Water Technologies and Singapore's Public Utility Board (PUB) are collaborating on a full-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) testing facility based at the island's Changi Water Reclamation Plant. Together with Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) the Siemens business segment is also jointly establishing a laboratory that will focus on ways of improving water treatment technologies.

Siemens celebrates 25 years of membrane innovation

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Memcor membrane filtration product line offered by Siemens Water Technologies.

Power generation: Continuous electrodeionisation for power plants

The use of deionised water in power plants is an accepted technology, but the usage of hazardous chemicals can create problems. Jonathan Wood of Siemens Water Technologies explains how recent advances in electrodeionisation are helping with the chemical issue as well as cost reduction.

Georgia Tech set to use Siemens' water-treatment systems

In the USA, the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) has selected Siemens Water Technologies to provide multimillion dollar wastewater and ultrapure water treatment systems for a new US$80-million nanotechnology research centre, located in Atlanta, Georgia.

‘Water factory project’ uses Siemens MBR system

In Australia, Siemens Water Technologies has been awarded a contract worth A$4.26 million (US$3.6 million) by the Gippsland Water Factory Alliance (GWFA).

Siemens develops biological process optimisation programme

US-based Siemens Water Technologies has developed a biological process optimisation programme called ‘BioFlowsheet+ Solutions’.

Siemens upgrades Scottsdale drinking-water treatment plant

Siemens Water Technologies has been awarded a contract by Archer Western Contractors to expand the Scottsdale Water Campus Central Arizona Project (CAP) drinking-water treatment plant.

Siemens and Inge cooperate on membrane technology supply and distribution

US-based Siemens Water Technologies, a division of the Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S), and Inge AG of Greifenberg, Germany, have entered into a cooperation agreement to supply and distribute ultrafiltration (UF) membrane modules.

Siemens water technologies offers RO and NF systems

Now available from Siemens Water Technologies is the Vantage M80 Series reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) system, which is targeted at the municipal market.

Waxahachie chooses Siemens filtration system

The city of Waxahachie in Texas has chosen Siemens Water Technologies to supply a submerged membrane filtration system, rated at 77.6 million litres (20.5 million gallons) a day, for the first phase of the new Robert W. Sokoll, joint-venture surface water treatment plant.