Dow Water & Process Solutions, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, pilots Dow Ultrafiltration technologies at its Global Water Technology Center in Tarragona, Spain. The pilot program aims to monitor the quality of the feedwater produced by the Dow Ultrafiltration system. The results of piloting reportedly confirm the sustainable and stable operation of Dow Ultrafiltration commercial modules as a pre-treatment for the reverse osmosis system downstream for more than 300 accumulated days, demonstrating their performance in a real wastewater reuse application with relatively high organic content.
To provide real wastewater conditions, the pilot system was fed with secondary effluent from the Vilaseca (Tarragona, Spain) municipal wastewater treatment plant. Typically, due to wastewater feed quality and characteristics, the reverse osmosis system cannot be fed directly from the secondary effluent of the wastewater treatment plant without interruption. To guarantee the required feed quality to the reverse osmosis system, a Dow Ultrafiltration SFP-2880 system was integrated upstream.
The autopsies carried out on the Ultrafiltration modules following the end of the piloting demonstrated the absence of broken or damaged fibers, as well as no reported loss in tensile strength and mechanical properties, according to the company. The permeate produced by the system downstream is suitable for a number of applications, including irrigation, agriculture and golf courses.
Dow Ultrafiltration modules feature hydrophilic PVDF hollow fibers, which feature high strength, chemical resistance and low-fouling tendency, as well as optimized flow configuration (OUT-IN) for high tolerance to a wide variety of feed water types, minimizing the risk of fiber plugging.
For more information, visit: www.dowwaterandprocess.com
