Firsthand client testimonial of ADI Systems’ MBR technology given at WEFTEC® 2014
WEFTEC®, the Water Environment Federation’s Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference, is the largest conference of its kind in North America. Every year, thousands of water and wastewater professionals from around the world gather at WEFTEC® for unparalleled education and training in cutting-edge technologies.
2014’s conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, ran from 27 September − 1 October. More than 1,000 presentations were offered during the conference, one of which was delivered by ADI Systems’ client, FMC Health and Nutrition.
Joseph LaLa, Global Environmental Manager of FMC’s EHS operations, spoke about FMC’s experience using ADI Systems' membrane bioreactor (ADI-MBR) to treat wastewater with high salt concentrations from carrageenan production at its plant in the Philippines.
Carrageenan is extracted from edible seaweeds and is widely used as a thickening agent in the food industry. Because of its very high salt content, this wastewater would result in poor sludge settleability and solids clarification in a conventional activated sludge plant. The ADI-MBR, however, can effectively treat raw wastewater with high salt concentrations. Mr LaLa explained the carrageenan production process and corresponding wastewater treatment using the ADI-MBR. He explained that the technology was selected for several reasons:
- consistency meeting effluent limits
- limited space at the Philippines plant (compact footprint), and
- potential to recycle/reuse treated effluent in plant production.
Typically 30 to 40 percent of the MBR effluent is recycled back into production, resulting in significant savings in plant water usage. The plant often handles flows at 27 percent above the original design flow, with no problems in terms of membrane fouling.