Demineralised Water Plant Upgrade for Silicon Smelter

A metal recycler was facing regulatory challenges due to non-compliant stormwater discharge, putting the site's operations at risk. The client required an effective stormwater treatment solution that ensured compliance with discharge regulations.

A manufacturer of solid & liquid plant nutrition and soil amendment products in Victoria was looking to improve efficiency. Sludge residues accumulate in the tanks used for product blending through the manufacturing process. This sludge comprises the concentrated raw/precursor solid product and some inert debris. During the cleaning & rinsing of these process tanks, the company has been wasting these sludge residues. However, given this sludge contains the concentrated precursor product, ideally this should be recovered and processed into a valuable liquid fertiliser product. MAK Water was selected to provide a Belt Filter (BF) trial plant for the company to operate and test onsite over a 2-week period. The purpose of the trial was to determine the filtering performance, determine the hydraulic capacity required for the site, and ultimately prove the business case for a full-scale BF. They successfully trialled sludge from various process tanks at various flow rates, and operating the BF at different speeds while adjusting the washing system for different on/off durations.

A Western Australian glass and stone manufacture was continually having issues with water marks being left on their glass sheets after they have been washed down. The company contacted MAK Water to design, construct and commission a water treatment process that treated their mains water supply to a standard that eliminated the smear marks after washing the glass sheets.

A large sugar manufacturing company undertook construction a $75 million green energy power plant at the Tableland Mill.  The power plant will turn 100 per cent renewable sugarcane fibre known as bagasse, into green energy. Once commissioned, it will produce 24 megawatts of electricity – enough to power 26,280 homes – which is the entire population of the Tableland region. The Reverse Osmosis producing demineralised water for the plants steam boiler was having issues with high levels of iron and manganese in the feedwater that needed to be removed. The sugar manufacturing company engaged MAK Water to deliver a modular solution.

A large sugar manufacturing company undertook a $75 million expansion project including a green energy power plant at its Tableland Mill. The new power plant utilises 100 per cent renewable sugarcane fibre known as bagasse, to create heat which is used to generate power via a steam generator set. Once commissioned, it will produce 24 megawatts of electricity – enough to power 26,280 homes – which not by coincidence, is the entire population of the Tableland region. The power plant required ultra-pure demineralised water for the plants high pressure steam boiler. The company charged with delivering the power plant engaged MAK Water to deliver a modular solution.

MAK Water was approached by a large family-owned business in Sydney to provide a suitable solution to their increasing volumes of trade wastewater from their manufacturing process. The business was producing approximately 7-8 thousand litres a week of mildly acidic wastewater that they were paying to be disposed of by a liquid waste company as the pH was too low to be suitable for disposal into Sydney Water’s sewer system. The volumes being removed were relatively small compared to other companies so having a system that could meet the discharge specification and be cost effective was very important.