Tuesday, November 6

Technical Sessions – 1:15-5:00 P.M.

ASME Session: Controlling Corrosion and Impurities in Steam and Process Condensate Industrial Cogeneration Plants

IWC Rep: Debbie Bloom, Retired, Wheaton, IL
Session Chair: David Daniels, M&M Engineering, Leander, TX
Discussion Leader: George Patrick III, SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions, Drums, PA

This session will focus on the recovery, treatment, and monitoring of process condensate. It will include papers on evaluating process condensate to ensure that it is suitable as boiler feedwater, treatment options such as polishing, and key monitoring parameters.

IWC 18-45: Measuring pH in Steam and Water Cycles
Randy Turner, SWAN Analytical USA, Wheeling, IL

Steam and water cycle pH is one of the most important parameters to monitor and control to mitigate corrosion, however, it is one of the most challenging parameters to accurately measure. Measuring pH in high purity water is very challenging because the sample has very low conductance. This paper will detail the historical challenges faced in the measurement of pH in high purity samples, discuss the technological advances, and discuss calculated pH by differential conductivity.

IWC 18-46: Evaluating Condensate Recovery and Treatment in Industrial Facilities
Colleen Layman Scholl, P.E., HDR, Inc., Whitewater, WI

The collection and reuse of condensate from industrial process or facility heating users is commonly recognized as a highly effective means of improving the efficiency of the steam generating plant as well as an important part of enabling a facility to reach its sustainability goals. While recovering and reusing condensate saves energy, reduces fuel costs, reduces water consumption and wastewater production, and often reduces chemical costs, there is often a hesitation in many industrial facilities to do so due to risks of contamination and the anticipated costs associated with mitigating this risk, physically collecting and returning this condensate to the boilerhouse, and/or with treating the condensate to ensure that it is suitable for reuse.

This paper will detail studies performed at several different facilities where steam is produced primarily to support industrial process users or facility heating systems to assess the potential of improving the plant’s capability to recover and reuse condensate. The discussion will include an evaluation of the economic and technical practicality of condensate collection and return in each situation. It will also discuss the various treatment options such as condensate polishing, condensate filtration, and satellite chemical injection which were considered for implementation at the facilities.

IWC 18-47: Some Key Production Plant Steam and Condensate System Factors that Impact Feedwater Quality
Charles Kuhfeldt, CauseWay Water Consulting and Services, LLC, Taylor Lake Village, TX

The integration of combined cycle cogeneration plants with production plants, particularly petrochemical plants and oil refineries, can be problematic in operation when feedwater contamination exceeds the established guidelines for the Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) operating pressure. These problems can originate in the operating production facility and affect the HRSG when condensate from the production plant is returned to the HRSG feedwater system. While the contaminant concentrations acceptable or recommended for HRSG operation are now well defined the impacts of the surrounding production facility system design, the system’s subsequent evolution through site growth, and the operational variability of the production plant or steam host can significantly affect the ability to meet those feedwater contaminant limits. When boiler feedwater preparation for the production facility includes older pretreatment systems, the potential for blending contaminated condensate with higher purity condensate adds additional complications. This paper reviews some key plant design points, operational concerns, and the additional complications of using softened water in some parts of the system by using schematic diagrams and operating scenarios.

IWC 18-48: A Reality Check on Condensate Polishing: A Discussion on Misconceptions
John Yen, Graver Water Ecodyne, New Providence, NJ

Condensate polishing technologies and applications have been around for decades. Over the years, there have been successes and failures both from a product design and improper application. As a result, misconceptions on the technology perpetuate throughout the industry. This paper will attempt to address several of these misconceptions as well as provide an economic comparison of the various types of solutions from a capital cost and operating cost point of view.

Today, plant designs vary from not including any condensate treatment while others incorporate filtration, deep bed ion demineralizers, or precoat filter / demineralizers. First we will discuss the impact of not including any type of condensate treatment and its anticipated results based to address the misconception that Condensate Polishing is not needed, just utilize the blowdown only method. Next, we will address the misconception that condensate filtration is an expensive investment. Finally we will address the misconception that pre-coat filter demineralizers are expensive to operate. We will incorporate real world data as supplied by several operating plants.

Consider Attending: W-1, W-2, W-5, W-7, W-10, W-12, W-17

 

Fundamentals of Sustainable Desalination

IWC Rep: Jim Summerfield, DOW Chemical Company, Saginaw, MI
Session Chair: Jane Kucera, NALCO Water, an ECOLAB Company,
Discussion Leader: Denise Haukkala, The Dow Chemical Company, Fairfield, CA

Desalination has been a part of water treatment for centuries; in fact, distillation has been practiced for nearly 200 years and reverse osmosis (RO) for over 50. In the era of reduce, reuse, and recycle, desalination is being called upon to treat all types of make-up sources for a variety of end uses in both the industrial and municipal arenas, and to do so in a sustainable manner, i.e., with minimal pretreatment, high recovery, and reliability. But, how do we get there? In this session, we provide some insights as to how to achieve sustainable desalination. As an introduction, the first paper covers the history and application of RO, one of the most popular desalination technologies. The following papers cover best practices for RO, to sustain the operation of the desalination technology; challenges with recycling FGD wastewater-contaminated well water for reuse within a power plant, using RO desalination; and brine reduction strategies, to minimize the waste regenerated by desalination technologies.

IWC 18-49: Reverse Osmosis: a History and Explanation of the Technology and How It Became so Important for Desalination
Lyndsey Wiles and Elke Peirtsegaele, MICRODYN-NADIR, Goleta, CA

From cellulose acetate (CA) hollow fiber membranes to advanced thin-film composite membranes in a spiral-wound configuration, developments in reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technology have allowed the desalination industry to tackle an even broader range of applications than ever before. This paper focuses on the advancements in membrane chemistry that have allowed RO membranes to offer extremely high salt rejection, operate at lower pressures, and handle a wide range of operating conditions. In addition, this paper discusses the history of RO element design, including an explanation of the industry-standard spiral-wound element design and why this design allows for RO to be a critical technology for an ever-increasing amount of desalination applications. Current RO desalination applications will also be discussed so that the reader can better understand the practical relevance of both RO membrane chemistry and element progression. Finally, this paper touches on future advancements in RO membrane technology and where the RO desalination industry is headed. Overall, an explanation and history of RO membrane chemistry and element design along with a discussion of how this technology is applied as a result will give the reader a fundamental understanding of RO as a desalination technology.

IWC 18-50: Managing Operating Risks in Industrial Reverse Osmosis Systems
Loraine Huchler, MarTech Systems, Inc., Trenton, NJ

Conceptually, the use of reverse osmosis (RO) units in industrial facilities seems like a straight-forward solution; in reality the operation and maintenance of an RO unit in industrial facilities is complex, with a significant number of hidden liabilities that result in more frequent cleaning events, poor effluent quality and shorter membrane life. Owners of RO units can avoid these problems by adhering to a set of best practices for design and operation. Attendees will learn how to conduct a Basic Best Practices assessment of an RO to identify the most common design and operating mistakes. Through a series of short case histories, attendees will understand the impact of the most common risks such as operating at less than design flowrates, discharging permeate into a pressurized transfer pipe, improperly idling skids, incorrect monitoring, data management and corrective actions, insufficient pretreatment, poor membrane replacement and cleaning strategies, inadequate pretreatment and standard prefilter design.

IWC 18-51: Reverse Osmosis Treatment of Well Water Commingled with Flue Gas Desulfurization Wastewater at a Power Plant
John Korpiel, P.E., Michael Pudvay, P.E., and Mark Hess Veolia Water Technologies, Moon Township, PA

A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the performance of reverse osmosis (RO) technology for the treatment of well water that has been commingled with flue gas desulfurization wastewater at a power plant site. The commingled well water presents treatment challenges due to its high calcium sulfate and manganese concentrations. The power plant plans to reuse the treated well water. The paper discusses the results of the successful pilot study to validate RO technology.

IWC 18-52: Survey of Brine Reduction Treatment Options and Techniques
Michael Preston, Black & Veatch, Overland Park, KS

As the need for fresh water increases, impaired sources of water are more frequently being considered, especially in areas of water restriction. This along with drive for more efficient water processes creates issues with wastewater disposal, particularly for inland facilities. Technologies and process approaches are being developed and have been deployed to attempt to minimize or eliminate issues associated with brine disposal associated with water treatment processes. This paper will survey brine minimization and treatment processes and techniques in industry and consider there benefits and challenges for implementation.

Consider Attending: W-1, W-2, W-3, W-5, W-10, W-12, W-15

 

Produced Water Management: Overcoming Unique Challenges in a Demanding Industry

IWC Rep: Jonathan Shimko, McKim and Creed, Sewickley, PA
Session Chair: Les Merrill, RETEGO Labs, Bountiful, UT
Discussion Leader: Russell Huffmyer, McKim & Creed, Inc., Sewickley, PA

The economical treatment and management of Produced Water from Oil and Gas exploration, extraction and processing has experienced exponential growth over the last 15 years. This session includes presentations of projects ranging from existing facility expansion to new construction in a remote location. The audience will gain insight into the challenges of designing and constructing facilities that must operate in extreme weather and the obstacles of getting specialized equipment to a distant region in China. The treatment of produced water to facilitate reuse to reduce the costs of procuring new water and eliminating costs of water disposal will be also be presented. This session will provide a format to introduce actual operational results with a professional review and will encourage constructive dialogue following each presentation.

IWC 18-53: Case Study: Horizontal Falling-Film Evaporator for Produced Water Treatment at Shengli Oil, China
Roi Zaken Porat, Hadar Goshen, and Tomer Efrat, IDE Technologies, Kadima, Israel

Water scarcity in the Xinjiang region in China, together with the growing demand for water for the oil & gas industry and new regulations for water disposal and reuse, have led China authorities to establish a program for advanced water treatment in the oil fields. One of the leading solutions for the treatment of oil field produced water is based on pretreatment to remove residual oil, colloidal silica and suspended particles (TSS), followed by a desalination process using an evaporator. This case study presents the design challenges, and construction and operation challenges of the produced water treatment project at Shengli Oil, in which 2×2500 m³/day horizontal falling film Mechanical Vapor Compression (MVC) units are used.
The Shengli project requires that the 1.8% salinity feed water to the evaporator be treated to boiler feed water quality, with a recovery of 75%. As well as sodium chloride, the water composition includes approximately 30 ppm each of silica and magnesium; 2200 ppm of calcium, 160 ppm of sulfates, 5 ppm of fluorides and varying levels of organic (up to 50ppm) oil traces, making the recovery and permeate purity very challenging. After a series of laboratory jar tests, it was decided to treat the water using two (2) MVC units that were designed for operation with the requested recovery of 75%, and a total capacity of 5000 m³ distilled water per day. Intensive control of pH and temperature is designed to meet the challenging saturation limits of silica, silica salts (e.g. magnesium silicate and calcium silicate) and Calcium Sulfate. Each MVC unit was designed with 3 effects for maximum capacity and efficiency.
The case study also presents the challenges in matching the most suitable and cost effective Materials of Construction (MoC) in order to address the relatively high chloride concentration in the feed water and the operation pH levels, as well as the requirement to withstand extremely low outdoor temperatures, which drop to -40°C.
The plant was constructed and assembled in the Xinjiang region to overcome the challenge of shipping to this distant region. The units were commissioned during November 2017, since when they have been in continuous operation. Finally, the case study presents the actual operation data compared to the design parameters.

IWC 18-54: Threshold Inhibition of Magnesium Silicate and Prevention of Organic Fouling in Produced Water Evaporator Preheaters
Martin R. Godfrey, Nalco Champion, an Ecolab Company, Eagan, MN; Nathan Marshall, Nalco Champion an Ecolab Company, Calgary, AB, Canada; Antony Kao and Graeme Finley, Nalco Champion an Ecolab Company, Bonnyville, AB, Canada

Field development of an antifoulant program for produced water evaporator preheaters is discussed. The most effective phosphonate inhibitor was identified. The threshold concentration for scale inhibition was determined at various produced/well water blend ratios and the data was used to develop a simple and robust operating directive for product dosage. Effective cleanings were critical for probing deposit chemistry and removing crystal nucleation sites from the exchanger. A small concentration of organic dispersant prevented organic fouling. Without treatment the heat exchangers required cleaning in as little as 2 days. After implementation of the combined program heat exchanger run time is in excess of 2 months.

IWC 18-55: The Retrofit of a Remote 60 Thousand Barrel Per Day Oil Field Produced Water Train
Americus Mitchell, Fluor, Sugar Land, TX

Retrofit projects, present the unique challenge of designing a system under existing conditions and require minimum impact to the operation of the current system. The impact to the current operations needs to be taken into account in both the design and execution of the project. Adding to these challenges, the issues associated with installation at remote sites, limited construction/shipping windows, harsh site conditions and limited onsite construction personnel requires more foresight be placed in both the design and construction of the system. This was the challenge faced on a project on a remote island in northern Russia.

The end goal of the project was to remove free oil from an existing stream, which with the advent of a new offshore wells to boost oil production, would require tighter limits on what could be injected. To over come these issues and to provided a positive barrier for protection against oil slugs, in excess of 400 mg/L and to remove particles micron sized particles for a flowrate of 160,000 bpd, a walnut shell filter system was selected to be installed.

When selecting the walnut shell filter, several different factors, ranging from the type of media, type of backwash, potential two phase flow, backwash water locations, physical filter installation locations, size and number of filters due to logistical limitation, power consumption, permitting, drainage and impacts on the site flare system where all items which had to be evaluated in the design and installation of the system. The unique twist due to the remote location and this being an existing facility only served to increase the complexity of the project.

We will present the data and information on the current system starting at the high pressure separator systems to the current well system. The new system design will be presented along with information concerning the key factors that where looked at and evaluated in the decision to move forward with the project. Also discussed will be the execution path to installation of the new filters to meet the challenges presented in the design and remote conditions. Finally data utilized from similar projects to determine the loading rates utilized on the filters, which are currently being installed.

IWC 18-56: Closing the Cycle: Optimizing Produced Water Management Through Efficient Reuse Treatment
Jean Louis Kindler and Ayush Tripathi, OriginClear Technology, Los Angeles, California

Global oil and gas operators in water-stressed regions are seeing mounting water costs, leading them to search for cost-efficient management processes. Produced water reuse offers operators dual advantages: first, by reducing the costs of procuring new water and second, by eliminating costs of water disposal — including storage, trucking and injection.

This is especially true where oil and gas activity and drought conditions coincide, as in California’s Central Valley. One demonstration for a Bakersfield-based exploration and production company showed feasibility in reusing produced water for cyclic steam generators and agricultural irrigation through an electrochemistry-based, low-energy treatment process called Electro Water Separation (EWSTM). Success was quantified via field testing in Bakersfield in 2015.

Process:  Unlike other produced water solutions, EWS is a proprietary electrochemical process using catalytic electrodes to remove suspended solids, hydrocarbons and dissolved organics. This unique process allows EWS to manage operating costs by consuming only electricity, avoiding heavy use of hazardous chemicals and improving performance of easily-clogged membranes.

The EWS system used in the Bakersfield demonstration began with Electrocatalytic Coagulation (EC) to break the oil emulsion and agglomerate the suspended solids. This was followed by electroflotation (EF), where electrically generated microbubbles lifted the solids and oils to the water’s surface for simple mechanical separation, resulting in largely-clarified water. A third electrochemistry-based step of the process, Advanced Oxidation, or Aox™, provided disinfection and further degradation of miscible organics.

Once disinfected and largely clear, the water was polished to desired reuse levels through conventional treatment methods to remove any remaining contaminants.

Results:  The combination of solids and oil removal demonstrated the treatment scheme’s ability to provide effluent appropriate for reuse. Under quality requirements set by the oil producer, the reused water stream fed to steam generators needed to meet non-detect levels of oil and under 5ppm of total suspended solids. The raw produced water feed started with an average turbidity of 842 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU) and the treatment scheme offered greater than 99.8 percent removal of turbidity. In addition, the oil levels being fed to the EWS unit were in the range of 50-150 milligrams per liter, which was reduced to non-detectable levels after the combination of EWS and UF membrane. These levels also met quality requirements for reuse in crop irrigation, an area of interest to the oil producer.

With water becoming increasingly scarce, innovative and resource-efficient reuse schemes like EWS will become increasingly essential in industrial operations.

IWC 18-Reserve: Chemical Softening Using Lime and Magnesium Hydroxide
William Sanz, Ecodyne Limited, Burlington, ON, Canada

Consider Attending: W-1, W-2, W-4, W-5, W-10, W-12

 

If I Only Had a Membrane! (A Potpourri of Industrial Wastewater Topics All Connected by Membranes)

IWC Rep: Jay Harwood, SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions, Oakville, ON, Canada
Session Chair: David Riedel, P.E., Arcadis, Washington, D.C.
Discussion Leader: Josh Prusakiewicz, HDR, Ann Arbor, MI

Industrial wastewater comes in many different forms requiring clients, engineers and equipment manufacturers to develop unique solutions. Increasingly membranes play a part in the overall solution because of their ability to physically remove many constituents to levels well below permit limits and to open the door for water reuse opportunities. The papers in this session touch on chemical manufacturing, various food production, FGD wastewater, metal finishing, and dewatering, but they all are tied together by the use of membranes as part of the treatment solution.

IWC 18-57: Membrane Processes for Wastewater Treatment in the Food Industry
Gerard Van Gils, Ph.D., Kemco Systems Co., LLC, Clearwater, FL

The food industry presents a variety of water and wastewater challenges due to its high volume of water usage and due to the types of waste constituents present in the waste streams. Membranes can be used to good advantage in the treatment of wastewater, addressing high strength wastes and producing high quality purified water which may be suitable for reuse.

IWC 18-58: Ceramic Hollow Fiber Membrane Technology for Industrial Wastewater Treatment in Recycle/Reuse Applications
Greg Wood, i2m LLC, Raleigh, NC; Sreenath Kariveti, Mann+Hummel USA Inc., Raleigh, NC

Crossflow membrane technology has gained more interest recently with an important focus in treating high total suspended solids (TSS) concentration and oily wastewater applications to recover the valuable products and reduce total waste volume. Ceramic Hollow Fiber Membranes (CHFM) show the advantage of a high volumetric filtration area and high flux rates compared to other ceramic membranes with different geometric membrane designs.
CHFM’s performance parameters resulting from pilot tests are given with respect to the effect of membrane pore size, crossflow velocity, transmembrane pressure, the separation characteristics and the cleaning efficiency while achieving highest solids concentrations (>10%) and stable operational flux conditions. The present study is focused on CHFM’s pilot tests with Microfiltration (MF) and Ultrafiltration (UF) membrane pore sizes (30-130nm) are developed and tested with three different industrial wastewater qualities and it shows significant filtration performance advantages and huge potential for cost savings in terms of total cost of solution.

The first application deals with metal finishing industry wastewater filtration of high organic suspended solids with oily compounds and produce reusable clean water for further reusing in the production process with further treatment. The CHFM filtration performance shows high permeate quality (turbidity <1NTU) and stable filtration flux in operation. CHFM’s MF and UF membranes demonstrate flux values of 100-340LMH while concentrating wastewater from 1.2% to >11% solids thereby reducing total wastewater volume.
In the second application, the CHFM’s are tested in an algae dewatering application. During the filtration performance tests using MF and UF membranes, a stable flux with no in increase in TMP as concentration increased further. The different pore size membranes fluxes range from 150-250 LMH with retentate microalgae TSS concentration factor of 30x. The TSS results show a significant pre-concentration of algae from 0.15% to a dry weight percentage of 5%.
The third application is dewatering of an anaerobic digester biomass wastewater using microfiltration and ultrafiltration CHFM’s. The feed wastewater stream is highly organic (COD~10,000ppm) with TSS ~ 1.5%. The crossflow filtration of 80nm and 30nm shows stable flux performance in the range of 100-130 LMH with high concentrations of biomass up to TSS >8%. The filtration performance parameters resulting from experimental investigations show the cleaning efficiency of the newly developed ceramic hollow fiber membranes compared to conventional dewatering technologies.

IWC 18-59: Overcoming Challenges in Biological Treatment of Selenium Containing Wastewaters by Advancements in Bioreactor Design
Rebeccah Chapman, Frontier Water Systems , Salt Lake City, Utah; Luke Halverson and Logan Terheggen, Frontier Water Systems, Atlanta, GA

With the release of the ELG rule in September 2015 and a general trend toward stricter water treatment regulations, wastewater treatment for selenium has become a vital issue across a wide variety of industries. Biological treatment of selenium containing wastewaters offers many technical advantages over physical/chemical treatment strategies; however, the design of conventional bioreactors pose challenges that often restrict the suitability and feasibility of biological treatment for certain treatment applications. This paper will cover engineering advancements that have been made in the bioreactor design for selenium treatment which overcome the challenges associated with the conventional bioreactor design. Specifically, a two-stage approach has been developed to allow for a smaller footprint, prefabricated and modular bioreactor design suitable for a wide variety of water treatment applications. Several case studies support motivations behind the reactor design, exemplify treatment capabilities, and to show versatility in treatment applications.

IWC 18-60: MBR Technology Utilized to Resolve an Increase in Flows and New Discharge Requirements When Upgrading a CPI Wastewater Treatment Plant at Eastman Chemical facility in Chestertown, Maryland
John Sisson, Eastman Specialties Corporation, Chestertown, MD; Brian Arntsen and Carsten Owerdieck, SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions, Oakville, ON, Canada; Eric Kozmic, SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions, Trevose, PA

Eastman is a global advanced materials and specialty additives company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With a portfolio of specialty businesses, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. As a globally diverse company, Eastman serves customers in more than 100 countries. Eastman Chemical Company acquired the Chestertown, Maryland site in 2010, which produces non-phthalate plasticizers and coalescents used in building and construction, medical and consumer goods.
This Chestertown facility had an existing wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) consisting of physical chemical pretreatment followed with a conventional activated sludge (CAS) aerobic bioreactor with secondary clarification . The present WWTP was built in 1995 and upgraded several times since then.
In 2013 , the Eastman Specialties Corporation facility anticipated a need for a 50% BOD capacity increase resulting from new product introductions and a 50% increase of total wastewater flow that could no longer be hydraulically handled by the existing WWTP secondary clarification equipment. In addition, the treated wastewater now had to comply with stricter NPDES requirements, regarding, BOD, TSS, TN, TP.
After evaluating several options to upgrade the treatment plant, Eastman Specialties Corporation decided to proceed with Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology, as this allowed for handling the capacity increase with minimum additional footprint, as the area had serious space limitations. In addition, Eastman Specialties Corporation required a robust and reliable solution, to comply 100% of the time with the new NPDES discharge permit.
In 2015 Eastman Specialties Corporation, proceeded with the design and installation of 156,000 gallons per day upgrade of the CAS WWTP. This paper will present the key topics related to MBR technology in the Chemical Processing Industry applications, and system design and performance after two years of operation at the Eastman Specialties Corporation Chestertown Maryland production plant.

IWC 18-Reserve: Pharmaceutical Wastewater Reuse – Testing and Validating a Combination of Physicochemical, Biological and Membrane Processes
Nabin Chowdhury, Sergiy Popov, Cory Robertson, Denise Horner, John Williamson, and Adriano Vieira, SUEZ Innovation, Development & Advanced Services (IDEAS) Center, Ashland, VA; Rudy Labban, SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions (WTS), Richmond, VA

Consider Attending: W-1, W-2, W-5, W-6, W-9, W-10, W-12, W-13, W-16