Water-Intensive High-Tech Companies Rely on Water Recycling Solutions from DAS EE
Reliable wastewater treatment with optimised water consumption — this was the order one of the leading battery producers approached DAS Environmental Expert GmbH with. The goal was to effectively reduce the water demand of the existing waste gas purification plant by intelligent water recycling, thus using limited resources in a responsible way.
The production of batteries and energy storage systems is one of the most water-intensive high technologies. At locations where technological competence and skilled workers are available, but the external conditions are challenging, intelligent process solutions are needed for successful and environmentally compatible operation. In order to reduce the dependence on natural resources at the production site and not to burden nature more than is absolutely necessary, more and more companies are consciously opting for resource-conserving solutions. Optimised solutions not only contribute to the protection of nature and the environment. In view of rising costs, the reuse of water often also contributes to economic efficiency.
Specialists for Intelligent Water Management
The US battery specialist already relies on DAS EE’s environmental technology solutions for waste gas treatment: The exhaust air from a laboratory tool is purified using the DAS EE ESCAPE process waste gas purification model.
“Our good cooperation in the area of waste gas purification made it easy for the customer to also rely on us for the optimisation of the water cycle,” reports Dr. Valia Sfaelou, Team Lead Innovation, at DAS EE.
The Dresden specialists not only offer a comprehensive portfolio of wastewater treatment methods. They also already have a wide range of experience in designing water cycles. After all, intelligent water recycling is one of the most important future topics for their customers from industries such as microelectronics, solar and the chemical industry.
Point of Use Particle Filtration and Water Recycling
Challenges of Process Waste Gas Treatment
The installed Burn-Wet System ESCAPE from DAS Environmental Expert GmbH removes pollutants from the laboratory exhaust air. The harmful substances are first burned and then washed out – which effectively cleans the exhaust air, but shifts some of the pollutants into the scrubbing water. To maintain reliable optimal cleaning performance, this water must be renewed regularly.
Efficient Water Filtration System
The composition of the ESCAPE’s effluent in this application is rather straightforward. To be able to return the water to the abatement, only particles need to be removed. The process of choice for this is filtration. For this purpose, the ESCAPE is supplemented by a DAS EE water filtration system. Water recycling can thus take place directly at the point-of-use, just like waste gas treatment.
Reliable Cleaning without Interrupting the Process
The aim of DAS Environmental Expert GmbH was to keep the design and operation of the system as simple as possible. For this reason, filter cartridges are used. These can be replaced in a few simple steps when they are full. Unlike a filter, backwashing is not necessary. The water filtration system used by DAS EE was equipped with two filter cartridges; one is in operation and one is available as a redundancy. Thus, the replacement of loaded cartridges can take place without interrupting the process. The treated water is stored in the associated tank.
Flexible and Automated
Thanks to the modular design and its high flexibility, the DAS EE water recycling solution can be used for very different particle sizes. Reliable wastewater treatment at the customer’s site is thus guaranteed. In terms of sustainability and cost savings, it can also be mentioned that chemicalies can also be saved by reusing the water, as less lye has to be dosed in the abatement.
The system works fully automatically and communicates directly with the waste gas treatment system via a bus interface. Our software specialists have developed a suitable ATC (Advanced Tool Coupling) especially for this purpose.
Remote Operation Possible
After the testing and commissioning phase at the DAS EE site in Dresden, the system was transported to the customer. “One last challenge remained: due to the travel restrictions in place at the time, it was not possible to commission the water recycling system at the customer’s site as usual. Our experienced team then managed to do this remotely, via a VPN connection. In the end, we had another satisfied customer — which makes our entire team happy,” concludes Innovation Manager Dr. Valia Sfaelou.