- Email: [email protected]
Canadian energy company selects GE's technologies
NEWS In other news, H2O Innovation has formed a partnership with S.M. Group International Incorporated (SMI) to offer turn-key water desalination plants in Algeria. Following a trade mission sponsored by the Canadian Embassy in Algeria, the two companies agreed to unite their expertise to offer the country’s people safe drinking water – processed from sea water, an unending resource. The companies are already working on the first request for bids by L’Algérienne des Eaux (ADE), a Crown Corporation responsible for the implantation of a drinking-water supply programme in Algeria. ‘By teaming up with SMI – well known for its involvement in large-scale water filtration plants in Quebec and abroad – we will be in position to present a vertically integrated team offering analysis, design, manufacture, construction and operation services. This partnership is a strategic move to respond to Algerian tenders for turn-key facilities,’ commented Guillaume Clairet, H2O Innovation’s Director of Business Development. SMI is currently involved in a number of projects in Algeria at the implementation stage. ‘As we are already well established in Algeria, we had to take into consideration the expanding water desalination market. By teaming up with H2O Innovation, we are well positioned to approach this market with very competitive and comprehensive proposals,’ commented Gérard Laganière, Vice-President of SMI. Contact: H2O Innovation (2000) Inc, 420 Boulevard Charest Est, Suite 240, Québec City, Québec, Canada G1K 8M4. Tel: +1 418 688 0170, www.h2oinnovation.com
WEFTEC 07 sets new records
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he Water Environment Federation (WEF), based in Alexandria, Virginia, USA, says that its annual technical exhibition and conference has set two new records. This year’s exhibition, which is scheduled to be held on 13–17 October in San Diego, California, will host 1013 companies occupying 24 860 m2 (267 585 net square feet) of exhibition floor space, continuing a three-year trend of record-breaking numbers for the federation. The previous records of 965 companies and 22 776 m2 (245 155 net square feet) were set in 2006 when the event was held in Dallas. Now celebrating its 80th year, WEFTEC has not only grown in its technical scope but has become one of the largest annual water quality
October 2007
exhibitions in the world and shows no signs of slowing down, claims its organizer. ‘More and more companies are realizing that WEFTEC is the place to conduct business in the water and wastewater fields. This year alone we have had a 5% increase in the number of companies and a 9% rise in the amount of assigned floor space,’ said Nannette Tucker, Director of Sales. A wide range of topics in nine different focus areas allow attendees to design their own, unique learning experience while earning up to 35 contact hours for continuing education units and nine professional development hours, says WEF. Focus areas include membrane technologies, plant operations and treatment, regulations, utility management, water reuse and recycling, and water quality and watershed management. Contact: Water Environment Federation, 601 Wythe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-1994, USA. Tel: +1-703-684-2552, www.wef.org
Canadian energy company selects GE’s technologies
E
nergy company Suncor Energy Incorporated has selected GE Water & Process Technologies’ membrane and boiler feed-water systems for its upgrader expansion project located in the Canadian oil sands, Fort McMurray, Alberta. The Suncor Energy site will install a twotrain water treatment system rated at 4.6 m3 (1220 gallons) per-minute, which includes GE ZeeWeed ultrafiltration (UF) membranes, reverse osmosis (RO) membranes and sodium cycle softeners. GE’s boiler feed-water process is expected to help improve the expanded site’s up-time, water quality, cycle rates, water consumption, asset protection and operational costs. Suncor requires large amounts of high-quality water for steam generators that are used in upgrading naphtha, a component of synthetic crude oil. The firm’s planned naphtha treatment facility will draw water from the Athabasca River, which is susceptible to large variations in raw water quality. The company says that total suspended solids can rise as high as 3000 mg/l. GE claims that ZeeWeed UF membranes provide a robust and reliable method of handling such variations and can consistently outperform conventional clarifiers. Suncor plans to
In Brief Water filtration plant honoured by APWA The Columbia Heights Membrane Filtration Plant (see Membrane Technology March 2006, page 4) in Minnesota, USA, has been named a ‘Public Works Project of the Year’ by the American Public Works Association (APWA), according to a report in the US press. The plant, which uses ultrafiltration technology, removes impurities more effectively than required by emerging and increasingly stringent federal drinking-water standards. The facility, which processes up to 265 000 m3 (70 million gallons) of water per day, features high-tech and redundant security measures to protect the water supply in a new ‘post-9/11’ environment. Donaldson reports eighteenth consecutive earnings record US-based Donaldson Company Incorporated has reported its eighteenth consecutive year of record earnings. For fiscal 2007, earnings per share (EPS) were $1.83 – up 18% from $1.55 a year earlier. Net income increased by 14% to $150.7 million, compared with $132.3 million posted for the previous twelve-month period. Sales totalled $1.919 billion – up 13% from $1.694 billion in fiscal 2006. ‘We made great progress on the operating issues that impacted our results earlier in the year, delivering a 12.3% operating margin in the fourth quarter, and bringing our operating margin back to our 11% target for the full year,’ said Bill Cook, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. The company’s advanced materials division – Donaldson Membranes – manufactures Tetratex expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membranes. Veolia Environnement agrees to acquire Thames Water businesses Veolia Water UK, a subsidiary of Veolia Water, the Water Division of Veolia Environnement, has successfully concluded negotiations with Thames Water for the acquisition of a number of unregulated business interests, at a price of around 115 million. Antoine Frérot, Chief Executive Officer of Veolia Water said: ‘This acquisition offers Veolia Water significant growth opportunities in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.’ Siemens opens water R&D centre in Singapore and appoints director Siemens Water Technologies recently opened its new Global Water Research and Development Center at the Public Utilities Board’s (PUB) WaterHub building in Singapore (see Membrane Technology February 2007, page 1). Dr Ruediger Knauf has been named director and will oversee Siemens’ research and development activities in the region. This is the first step towards the company’s previously announced 25-million investment in water technology research and product development in the Asia–Pacific region.
Membrane Technology
3
NEWS have the GE boiler feed-water system operate alongside an existing system that uses conventional clarification as pretreatment for the RO. The ZeeWeed pretreatment system will occupy about half the space required by a conventional clarifier, and is expected to reduce the cleaning intervals for the RO system by as much as 50% – from once per month, to once every two months. Suncor will also experience a significant reduction in chemical usage because ZeeWeed technology does not rely on particles settling to achieve separation. The efficient operation of the system is intended to maximize Suncor’s water efficiency and substantially reduce the amount of sludge that is produced. The system is scheduled to start up in late 2008 and is designed to consistently provide high-quality water to the boilers, with a conductivity of less than 10 µS/cm. GE Water & Process Technologies is a business unit of US-based General Electric Company. Contacts: GE Water & Process Technologies, 4636 Somerton Road, Trevose, PA 19053-6783, USA. Tel: +1 215 355 3300, www.gewater.com Suncor Energy Incorporated, PO Box 38, 112–4 Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta T2P 2V5, Canada. Tel: +1 403 269 8100, www.suncor.com
US firms develop drinking-water safety testing products
I
n the USA, Invitrogen Corporation, a provider of essential life science technologies for research, production and diagnostics, and Idexx Laboratories Incorporated, which offers products and services for veterinary, and food and water applications, have entered into a strategic collaboration to distribute and develop products for testing drinking water. Under the terms of this agreement, IDEXX will be responsible for distributing and marketing water-testing kits that use Invitrogen’s broad portfolio of technologies, including its Dynabeads GC-Combo, which will be used for the selective enrichment of Giardia and Cryptosporidium directly from water sample concentrates. Paul Kinnon, Vice President and General Manager of Invitrogen’s Applied Markets 4
Membrane Technology
business unit, commented: ‘By partnering with Idexx we are creating a more complete workflow system and product range with unmatched quality for our customers.’ Dana Belisle, Director and General Manager of Idexx Water, added: ‘Invitrogen’s technologies, in combination with Idexx’s Filta-Max and Filta-Max Xpress systems enable us to provide our customers with a comprehensive range of products to support the entire water-testing process.’ Idexx entered the water-testing market during 1993 with Colilert, its coliform and E. coli water test. The company claims that Colilert is now one of the most highly used testing methods in the world. Invitrogen recently launched the Cryptosporidium Genotyping Kit for microorganism isolation from water. The product encompasses multiple Invitrogen technologies to allow for the isolation, concentration and detection of pathogens. This kit is one of the first geno-typing tests that is designed specifically for the drinking-water market, says the company. Contacts: Invitrogen Corporation, 1600 Faraday Avenue, PO Box 6482, Carlsbad, CA 92008, USA. Tel: +1 760 603 7200, www.invitrogen.com IDEXX Laboratories Incorporated, One Idexx Drive, Westbrook, ME 04092, USA. Tel: +1 207 556 0300, www.idexx.com
Chromatography column supports are improved
P
orvair Technology of Wrexham, UK, has improved chromatography column supports by developing frits composed of BioVyon, an ultra-clean porous polymer. BioVyon frits, suited to solid-phase extraction and process-scale applications, are compatible with a wide range of chemicals, and have hydrophobic and oleophobic properties to control liquid flow while retaining inertness, says the firm. ‘We are responding to better performances required in sample preparation and this is reflected in new material development,’ commented Roy Rigby, Market Manager at the company. Porvair Technology is a division of the Porvair Filtration Group Limited, a specialist porous media and filtration company, with
expertise in a wide range of media and many years experience in filtration. Contact: Porvair Technology, Clywedog Road South, Wrexham Industrial Estate, Wrexham LL13 9XS, UK. Tel: +44 1978 661144, www.porvairfiltration.com
Eco-Tec awarded water treatment system contract by PPGA
C
anada’s Eco-Tec Incorporated has been awarded a contract by the Public Power Generation Agency (PPGA), based in Hastings, Nebraska, USA, to supply a water treatment system for its Whelan Energy Center, Unit 2. The integrated water treatment components for this project include two trains of the firm’s double-pass Eco-RO reverse osmosis system and Recoflo polishers, which will generate demineralized water with a conductivity of less than 0.1 µS/cm. Black & Veatch of Kansas City, Missouri, USA, are the owner’s engineers for the project. It evaluated multiple proposals for a system capable of supplying water for the 220-MW expansion unit. It says Eco-Tec’s system was chosen because, as a simple, reliable package, it is able to produce water of high purity, without the need for mixed-bed polishers. ‘As the demand for power increases, industrial power plant capacity continues to require expansion. Eco-Tec’s technology uniquely addresses this need, and we are extremely pleased to be working with Black & Veatch on this project,’ said Mike Dejak, President of Eco-Tec. Eco-Tec manufactures water purification, gas processing and chemical recovery systems for industrial operations. It has provided more than 1500 systems for companies in over 52 countries, and is represented in all major markets. Contacts: Eco-Tec Incorporated, 1145 Squires Beach Road, Pickering, Ontario L1W 3T9, Canada. Tel: +1 905 427 0077, www.eco-tec.com Eco-Tec (Europe) Limited, Unit 29C Ring Road, Zone 3, Burntwood Business Park, Burntwood, Staffordshire WS7 3JG, UK. Tel: +44 1543 683086
October 2007
WEFTEC 07 sets new records
T
he Water Environment Federation (WEF), based in Alexandria, Virginia, USA, says that its annual technical exhibition and conference has set two new records. This year’s exhibition, which is scheduled to be held on 13–17 October in San Diego, California, will host 1013 companies occupying 24 860 m2 (267 585 net square feet) of exhibition floor space, continuing a three-year trend of record-breaking numbers for the federation. The previous records of 965 companies and 22 776 m2 (245 155 net square feet) were set in 2006 when the event was held in Dallas. Now celebrating its 80th year, WEFTEC has not only grown in its technical scope but has become one of the largest annual water quality
October 2007
exhibitions in the world and shows no signs of slowing down, claims its organizer. ‘More and more companies are realizing that WEFTEC is the place to conduct business in the water and wastewater fields. This year alone we have had a 5% increase in the number of companies and a 9% rise in the amount of assigned floor space,’ said Nannette Tucker, Director of Sales. A wide range of topics in nine different focus areas allow attendees to design their own, unique learning experience while earning up to 35 contact hours for continuing education units and nine professional development hours, says WEF. Focus areas include membrane technologies, plant operations and treatment, regulations, utility management, water reuse and recycling, and water quality and watershed management. Contact: Water Environment Federation, 601 Wythe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-1994, USA. Tel: +1-703-684-2552, www.wef.org
Canadian energy company selects GE’s technologies
E
nergy company Suncor Energy Incorporated has selected GE Water & Process Technologies’ membrane and boiler feed-water systems for its upgrader expansion project located in the Canadian oil sands, Fort McMurray, Alberta. The Suncor Energy site will install a twotrain water treatment system rated at 4.6 m3 (1220 gallons) per-minute, which includes GE ZeeWeed ultrafiltration (UF) membranes, reverse osmosis (RO) membranes and sodium cycle softeners. GE’s boiler feed-water process is expected to help improve the expanded site’s up-time, water quality, cycle rates, water consumption, asset protection and operational costs. Suncor requires large amounts of high-quality water for steam generators that are used in upgrading naphtha, a component of synthetic crude oil. The firm’s planned naphtha treatment facility will draw water from the Athabasca River, which is susceptible to large variations in raw water quality. The company says that total suspended solids can rise as high as 3000 mg/l. GE claims that ZeeWeed UF membranes provide a robust and reliable method of handling such variations and can consistently outperform conventional clarifiers. Suncor plans to
In Brief Water filtration plant honoured by APWA The Columbia Heights Membrane Filtration Plant (see Membrane Technology March 2006, page 4) in Minnesota, USA, has been named a ‘Public Works Project of the Year’ by the American Public Works Association (APWA), according to a report in the US press. The plant, which uses ultrafiltration technology, removes impurities more effectively than required by emerging and increasingly stringent federal drinking-water standards. The facility, which processes up to 265 000 m3 (70 million gallons) of water per day, features high-tech and redundant security measures to protect the water supply in a new ‘post-9/11’ environment. Donaldson reports eighteenth consecutive earnings record US-based Donaldson Company Incorporated has reported its eighteenth consecutive year of record earnings. For fiscal 2007, earnings per share (EPS) were $1.83 – up 18% from $1.55 a year earlier. Net income increased by 14% to $150.7 million, compared with $132.3 million posted for the previous twelve-month period. Sales totalled $1.919 billion – up 13% from $1.694 billion in fiscal 2006. ‘We made great progress on the operating issues that impacted our results earlier in the year, delivering a 12.3% operating margin in the fourth quarter, and bringing our operating margin back to our 11% target for the full year,’ said Bill Cook, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. The company’s advanced materials division – Donaldson Membranes – manufactures Tetratex expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membranes. Veolia Environnement agrees to acquire Thames Water businesses Veolia Water UK, a subsidiary of Veolia Water, the Water Division of Veolia Environnement, has successfully concluded negotiations with Thames Water for the acquisition of a number of unregulated business interests, at a price of around 115 million. Antoine Frérot, Chief Executive Officer of Veolia Water said: ‘This acquisition offers Veolia Water significant growth opportunities in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.’ Siemens opens water R&D centre in Singapore and appoints director Siemens Water Technologies recently opened its new Global Water Research and Development Center at the Public Utilities Board’s (PUB) WaterHub building in Singapore (see Membrane Technology February 2007, page 1). Dr Ruediger Knauf has been named director and will oversee Siemens’ research and development activities in the region. This is the first step towards the company’s previously announced 25-million investment in water technology research and product development in the Asia–Pacific region.
Membrane Technology
3
NEWS have the GE boiler feed-water system operate alongside an existing system that uses conventional clarification as pretreatment for the RO. The ZeeWeed pretreatment system will occupy about half the space required by a conventional clarifier, and is expected to reduce the cleaning intervals for the RO system by as much as 50% – from once per month, to once every two months. Suncor will also experience a significant reduction in chemical usage because ZeeWeed technology does not rely on particles settling to achieve separation. The efficient operation of the system is intended to maximize Suncor’s water efficiency and substantially reduce the amount of sludge that is produced. The system is scheduled to start up in late 2008 and is designed to consistently provide high-quality water to the boilers, with a conductivity of less than 10 µS/cm. GE Water & Process Technologies is a business unit of US-based General Electric Company. Contacts: GE Water & Process Technologies, 4636 Somerton Road, Trevose, PA 19053-6783, USA. Tel: +1 215 355 3300, www.gewater.com Suncor Energy Incorporated, PO Box 38, 112–4 Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta T2P 2V5, Canada. Tel: +1 403 269 8100, www.suncor.com
US firms develop drinking-water safety testing products
I
n the USA, Invitrogen Corporation, a provider of essential life science technologies for research, production and diagnostics, and Idexx Laboratories Incorporated, which offers products and services for veterinary, and food and water applications, have entered into a strategic collaboration to distribute and develop products for testing drinking water. Under the terms of this agreement, IDEXX will be responsible for distributing and marketing water-testing kits that use Invitrogen’s broad portfolio of technologies, including its Dynabeads GC-Combo, which will be used for the selective enrichment of Giardia and Cryptosporidium directly from water sample concentrates. Paul Kinnon, Vice President and General Manager of Invitrogen’s Applied Markets 4
Membrane Technology
business unit, commented: ‘By partnering with Idexx we are creating a more complete workflow system and product range with unmatched quality for our customers.’ Dana Belisle, Director and General Manager of Idexx Water, added: ‘Invitrogen’s technologies, in combination with Idexx’s Filta-Max and Filta-Max Xpress systems enable us to provide our customers with a comprehensive range of products to support the entire water-testing process.’ Idexx entered the water-testing market during 1993 with Colilert, its coliform and E. coli water test. The company claims that Colilert is now one of the most highly used testing methods in the world. Invitrogen recently launched the Cryptosporidium Genotyping Kit for microorganism isolation from water. The product encompasses multiple Invitrogen technologies to allow for the isolation, concentration and detection of pathogens. This kit is one of the first geno-typing tests that is designed specifically for the drinking-water market, says the company. Contacts: Invitrogen Corporation, 1600 Faraday Avenue, PO Box 6482, Carlsbad, CA 92008, USA. Tel: +1 760 603 7200, www.invitrogen.com IDEXX Laboratories Incorporated, One Idexx Drive, Westbrook, ME 04092, USA. Tel: +1 207 556 0300, www.idexx.com
Chromatography column supports are improved
P
orvair Technology of Wrexham, UK, has improved chromatography column supports by developing frits composed of BioVyon, an ultra-clean porous polymer. BioVyon frits, suited to solid-phase extraction and process-scale applications, are compatible with a wide range of chemicals, and have hydrophobic and oleophobic properties to control liquid flow while retaining inertness, says the firm. ‘We are responding to better performances required in sample preparation and this is reflected in new material development,’ commented Roy Rigby, Market Manager at the company. Porvair Technology is a division of the Porvair Filtration Group Limited, a specialist porous media and filtration company, with
expertise in a wide range of media and many years experience in filtration. Contact: Porvair Technology, Clywedog Road South, Wrexham Industrial Estate, Wrexham LL13 9XS, UK. Tel: +44 1978 661144, www.porvairfiltration.com
Eco-Tec awarded water treatment system contract by PPGA
C
anada’s Eco-Tec Incorporated has been awarded a contract by the Public Power Generation Agency (PPGA), based in Hastings, Nebraska, USA, to supply a water treatment system for its Whelan Energy Center, Unit 2. The integrated water treatment components for this project include two trains of the firm’s double-pass Eco-RO reverse osmosis system and Recoflo polishers, which will generate demineralized water with a conductivity of less than 0.1 µS/cm. Black & Veatch of Kansas City, Missouri, USA, are the owner’s engineers for the project. It evaluated multiple proposals for a system capable of supplying water for the 220-MW expansion unit. It says Eco-Tec’s system was chosen because, as a simple, reliable package, it is able to produce water of high purity, without the need for mixed-bed polishers. ‘As the demand for power increases, industrial power plant capacity continues to require expansion. Eco-Tec’s technology uniquely addresses this need, and we are extremely pleased to be working with Black & Veatch on this project,’ said Mike Dejak, President of Eco-Tec. Eco-Tec manufactures water purification, gas processing and chemical recovery systems for industrial operations. It has provided more than 1500 systems for companies in over 52 countries, and is represented in all major markets. Contacts: Eco-Tec Incorporated, 1145 Squires Beach Road, Pickering, Ontario L1W 3T9, Canada. Tel: +1 905 427 0077, www.eco-tec.com Eco-Tec (Europe) Limited, Unit 29C Ring Road, Zone 3, Burntwood Business Park, Burntwood, Staffordshire WS7 3JG, UK. Tel: +44 1543 683086
October 2007