EnviroChemie was founded in Switzerland in 1976, moving its headquarters to Rossdorf near Darmstadt (Germany) in 1996. A number of other companies have since joined the Group; EnviroDTS in 2001, EnviroFALK in 2006 and AWATEC AG in 2009. The whole Group was brought together under the EnviroWorld trade name in 2009. EnviroChemie GmbH operates five manufacturing and development sites in Germany and Switzerland as well as a further ten sales and service facilities, located mainly in Eastern Europe and Brazil. All plants, including user-friendly automation and measuring technology, are manufactured in EnviroChemies own factory. 20 pilot plants are available for testing purposes. With its 300 engineers and experts in water technology, the company achieved a turnover of 70 million euros in 2009. Eighty percent of turnover comes from plant construction in foreign markets. Twenty industrial property rights have been granted or applied for. EnviroChemie GmbH operates in the area of industrial water and wastewater technology, providing plant solutions and services for resource-efficient production. The company’s expertise lies in recycling water and other materials, optimising production processes, increasing efficiency, generating energy in a resourcefriendly manner and intelligent solutions for the treatment of process and wastewater. It supplies its industrial customers with a wide range of services, including consulting, planning and surveys, as well as plant construction, pilot testing, planning application and comprehensive servicing. EnviroChemie is a leading European company in the industrial treatment and recycling of wastewater and the market leader in Germany in the field of decentralised, compact wastewater treatment plants using chemico-physical, biological and membrane technology processes. To date, some 13,000 such systems have been delivered. A more efficient use of resources and a reduction in effluent contamination benefit not only the company’s customers but also the environment. One particularly outstanding innovation from EnviroChemie is the so called Biomar biological process, which demonstrates how environmental and economic criteria can be reconciled in an intelligent fashion. This process for the treatment of industrial effluent with high organic contamination involves an anaerobic stage followed by a secondary aerobic stage. Compared with purely aerobic processes, it uses significantly less energy, and in addition, energy can be generated from the produced biogas. The Biomar AWR process is applied in the dairy industry and uses whey, a by-product from cheese manufacture, as an alternative source of energy. The energy-rich whey is converted into biogas in special methane reactors, and this in turn produces steam, electricity or hot water, i. e. energy that can be fed back into the production process. In the Norrmejerier dairy in Umeå (Sweden), 200 tonnes of whey per day are turned into biogas in this way. This leads to savings in labour costs and equipment as well as a reduction in residues and emissions. At its manufacturing site in Mettlach, Villeroy & Boch AG was equally looking for a process to use resources more efficiently while reducing emissions. The objective was to recover the residues of porcelain glazes from wastewater in order to cut back on effluent and re-use the high-value residual materials. EnviroChemie was brought in to install a plant fitted with ceramic microfiltration modules. Using the principle of cross-flow filtration, it is possible to retain the glaze particles. The recovered glaze concentrate and the clear filtrate are then fed back again into the production process. In the field of physico-chemical processes, EnviroChemie can offer plants for treating wastewater and recycling process water (Envochem), plants for cleaning small quantities of highly contaminated wastewater (Split-O-Mat), high-performance flotation plants for larger quantities of wastewater (Flomar) and plants for the further treatment of wastewater from washing processes (Lugan). EnviroChemie offers a comprehensive water management service, comprising process analysis, pilot testing on site or in its own test laboratories, plant construction, maintenance and repairs and plant operation. Product lines, processes and components are developed not only at the company’s own facilities but also in longstanding and successful partnerships with research institutes such as the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft and various universities. As part of the AKIZ research project (an integrated wastewater concept for industrial areas using the example of Tra Noc in Vietnam), EnviroChemie is building an innovative pilot plant for recovering materials using membrane technology.
EnviroChemie GmbH
References
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Turning Wastewater to Energy at a Winery
Weinkellerei Trautwein in Lonsheim (Germany) The winery Trautwein is a producer of wine and grape juice in Germany. During the production wastewater accrues, which has to be treated before it can be discharged to the sewer. For this purpose an anaerobic Biomar® ASBx wastewater treatment plant was erected. The wastewater flows from the production by gravity flow towards the pumping pit. Afterwards it is pumped through a drum sieve and sedimentation to a mixing tank. In case of emergency there is furthermore the possibility to pump the water in an auxiliary tank. From the mixing and equalisation tank wastewater is pumped to the biological part of the plant. Within the Biomar® ASBx reactor the ingredients of the wastewater are transferred into valuable biogas. The effluent is separated from the anaerobic sludge and after an aeration it is discharged to the sewer. To advance the energy balance of the plant heat exchangers are used. Thereby the energy of the effluent and the energy of the methane are reused. TECHNICAL DATA Capacity: 150 m³/d (max. 10 m³/h) Influent: COD: max. 2,5t/d 16‘700 mg/L COD/BOD5: < 2 Discharge demands: COD: < 560 mg/L BOD5: < 280 mg/L Commissioning: 10/2008
Turning Whey and Wastewater to Energy
Norrmejerier dairy in Umeå (Sweden) After twelve weeks of construction it was ready: in June 2005 the Swedish Minister for the Environment Lena Sommested officially opened the plant and it started operations. Meanwhile Norrmejerier treats whey and whey permeate from other dairies in northern Sweden. “We are extremely pleased with the high recovery rate of biogas,” remarked Mr. Ollof Wallin (Norrmejerier). “We produce 8000m³ of it and save ?2500 every day. Those are phenomenal results.” Up to 1250m³ of process wastewater and 250m³ of whey and/or whey permeate are produced each day in Umea. Wastewater, whey and/or whey permeate flow through a drum sieve into the mixing and homogenization tank. Strong fluctuations are neutralized naturally without significant addition of chemicals (biochemical autoneutralization) and variations in quantity are leveled out. Facultative bacteria then acidify and hydrolyze the organic contents of the wastewater. The duration of the preacidification depends on the quality of the wastewater and its contents. The preacidified wastewater flows continuously through the flotation phase. This flotation removes the non-emulgated drops of oil and residual fats which are then hydrolyzed and turned into biogas in a special fat-methane reactor. One kilogram of fat produces about 1.5 m³ of biogas. Before the pre-acidified wastewater flows into the Biomar methane reactor it is conditioned, meaning the temperature and pH values are adjusted to create ideal conditions for anaero-bic treatment. It is then combined with some recycled filtered water and pumped into the Biomar methane reactors with a specially developed distribution system. Each reactor can hold 2500m³. The main contents of the wastewater in the reactors are sugars, alcohols and lactic acids. The metabolic functions of the acetogenic bacteria turn these contents into acetic acids, which are in turn metabolized by methane bacteria. In the methanogenic phase the acetic acids are then turned into energy-rich methane and carbon dioxide. In the calm separation zones of the reactors the microbubbles combine to form larger biogas bubbles which rise into the reactors’ integrated gas containers. The biogas is collected, fed into the steam vessel using an explosion-safe fan and burned, meaning the recovered energy is immediately available and consumed. The heat from the discharged wastewater is also recovered with a heat pump and used to prepare the temperature for anaerobic treatment in the mixing and homogenization tank. The chemical oxygen demand value of the water in the methane reactors is reduced by 60-90%. It then has the contaminant load of household wastewater and can be fed into the communal treatment plants.
Energie effiziente Rückgewinnung von Rohmaterialen
VILLEROY & BOCH in Mettlach (Germany) Innovative technology for recycling glazes from rinse solutions Villeroy & Boch, the well-known manufacturer of ceramics and lifestyle products in Mettlach, Germany, was looking for an innovative technology for treating rinse solutions from glaze processing. Within the scope of a research project, the optimum procedure for recycling glazes was determined together with EnviroChemie. Extensive tests in the test laboratory and with a pilot plant supplied the required technical data for designing the Envopur® high-performance microfiltration plant. Ceramic modules specifically designed for abrasive media are used for recycling the glazes. The concentrating process is regulated by a method filed as patent, in order to achieve the required density of the glazes for reuse. During porcelain production, glazes are applied to the porcelain base body. In automated operation this occurs through spraying in a closed chamber. The glaze sprayed over the edge of the porcelain base body is caught in a tub. In order to prevent a glaze layer from forming in the tub, the tub is rinsed with water. In this scenario, the glaze, a high-quality raw material, was up to now washed away with the rinsing water, and fed into a wastewater treatment. So far, the excess raw material, embedded in the separated sludge from the wastewater treatment, was disposed of and the rinsing water was fed into the drain as cleaned wastewater. Envopur® microfiltation plant for recycling glazes in the ceramics industry Today, with suitable Envopur® microfiltration, the rinsing water resulting from the glazing process is recycled in such a way that the separated glaze can be fed back and the rinsing water can be re-circulated. The microfiltration plant has a capacity of 20 m³/day.
Energie effiziente Wasserrückgewinnung in Wäschereien
At the beginning of November 2009, after only 3 months construction time, the new wastewater recycling plant was commissioned at CWS-boco in Solingen, Germany. The industrial laundry facility needs huge amounts of water for the annual laundry of 4.1 million towel rolls and approx. 1 million dirt-trapping mats. Essentially, the Biomar processing plant consists of the combination of a membrane activated sludge process and downstream reverse osmosis. With the new cleaning technology of EnviroChemie, approx. 80,000 litres of wastewater are recycled daily and re-circulated. Following treatment, 80 percent of the water is returned to the laundry cycle. 51 million litres of drinking water are saved per year. Furthermore, the wastewater processing plant reduces the laundry’s annual energy consumption by approx. 1.9 gigawatt hours due to heat recovery. With the new wastewater recycling plant “we can now not only save resources, but also money”, Markus Hucko, Managing Director of CWS-boco, is pleased to report. All legal requirements can be significantly undercut.
Further information
Type of Business
- Engineering,
- Consulting,
- Project development
Technology
- Energy efficiency in industry and trade: electricity sector:
- Instrumentation and control engineering
- Energy efficiency in industry and trade: heating and cooling sectors:
- Air handling units,
- Aircooled /watercooled chillers,
- Condensors and evaporators,
- Cooling towers,
- Heat exchanger technology,
- Ice bank technology,
- Industrial heat pump technology,
- Refrigeration plant technology and equipment,
- Heat exchanger technology,
- Hot water boiler technology,
- Industrial heat pump technology,
- Screw-type steam engine technology,
- Steam boiler technology,
- Steam turbine technology
- Combined heating, cooling and electricity generation:
- Biomass cogeneration (CHP),
- Cogeneration /combined Heat and Power (CHP),
- Geothermal heat and power (CHP),
- Organic rankine cycle technology
- Industrial and private heating and cooling:
- Pump technology,
- Absorbtion chillers,
- Concentrated solar thermal systems,
- Solar thermal systems (large-scale),
- Stirling engine technology
Classification
- Energy efficiency in industry and commerce:
- Industrial production: energy efficiency