Industrial Wastewater
Responsible for managing your company's wastes? Then this publication is essential for you. Industrial Wastewater discusses relevant regulatory and legal issues, provides examples of real-world treatment options, and offers suggestions on minimizing waste and preventing pollution to help both your compliance record and your bottom line.
Volume 9, Number 1
February/March 2010
NEWS
Priming the Pump for New Solutions
State agencies seek additional regulations, and natural gas drillers explore new storage and reuse methods to reduce total dissolved solids levels in the Marcellus Shale waterways
Natural gas drilling has become a growing industry in the Marcellus Shale — a low-density, organic-rich sedimentary rock formation that
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extends through much of Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York state, and small areas of Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. With its growth has also come an increase in total dissolved solids (TDS) in regional surface water, according to some regulatory agencies. State officials point to “frac water” as one of the major culprits, arguing that this mix of water and friction-reducing chemical additives used by drillers for hydraulic fracturing contains high levels of TDS that are making their way into influent and eventually the lakes and rivers along the Marcellus Shale, such as the Monongahela River in southwestern Pennsylvania.
In response to these concerns, some agencies are pursuing new industrial wastewater and drilling regulations to reduce TDS levels. The natural gas drilling industry also is responding by re-evaluating what it does with its used frac water. Some companies are pursuing water reuse more aggressively at their drilling operations in the Marcellus Shale.
From Wine to Waste to Energy
A California winery uses a microbial-electrolysis-cell reactor and wastewater to generate hydrogen
The Napa Wine Co. (Oakville, Calif.) produced more than just bottles of pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, and merlot last year. The winery also generated hydrogen from wastewater, thanks to the installation of a microbial fuel-cell reactor. The hope is that one day in the future, the hydrogen could be harnessed to run vehicles and power other equipment at the winery.
Finding a Solution for Icy Roads
North Dakota approves use of oil-field wastewater for road deicing — but some say they can’t find oil companies willing to provide the brine
The North Dakota Department of Transportation and several other municipalities in the state have used oil-field salt brines for ice control as far back as the 1960s. But the practice was halted temporarily in 2007 by the North Dakota Department of Health (DOH) when environmental groups began to question the wastewater’s toxicity and argued that its application to public roads was a violation of the Clean Water Act.
After laboratory tests were conducted by DOH, restrictions were put in place allowing limited use of the brine as a de-icer, but now some report that finding an oil company willing to allow its brine to be used has gotten harder.
FEATURES
Clear Results
Magnetic ion exchange could enable pulp and paper mills to reuse more water
Michael Bourke and Abigail Holmquist
Because of an 8-year drought, Australian industries are under growing economic and social pressure to reduce water use and increase water efficiency. A new wastewater treatment technology — magnetic ion exchange — may be helpful. Lab- and pilot-scale testing indicate that it can remove color and organic contaminants from industrial wastewaters.
Scale Control
Methods to control steam-stripper fouling so wastewater will be treated effectively
Patrick J. Cyr, Edward G. Helmig, Rominder P.S. Suri, and Scott Stoddard
When a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s pretreatment system began suffering from solids accumulation and scale formation, engineers analyzed the wastewater to identify the source of the fouling.
The facility needed to resolve the fouling issue because reworking batches was energy-intensive, costly, and time-consuming. Also, storing and reworking batches two or three times reduced the stripper’s overall capacity, which could affect manufacturing and chemical development operations. Incinerating failed batches could havecost the site more than $1 million/yr.
PROBLEM SOLVERS
Ultrafiltration and RO Treatment Consolidates Water Treatment Process for Indian Refinery
Problem: Water shortages posed an enormous challenge to the operations of the Chennai (India) Petroleum Co. Ltd. refinery.
Solution: An ultrafiltration hollow-fiber membrane coupled with reverse-osmosis treatment allowed for substantial water recovery and reuse.
BRIEFS
Quick updates on news of interest to the industrial wastewater professional.
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