RICHMOND, VA, Jan. 11, 2012 -- SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT affiliate Infilco Degremont Inc. (IDI) and its sister company Anderson Water Power & Technologies will design and supply a retrofit wastewater treatment system for the chloride purge stream from the wet Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) at the R. M. Schahfer Generating Station Units 14 & 15 in Wheatfield, IN.
The new wastewater treatment system will transform the existing 30-year old plant treatment system into one capable of handling the scrubber chloride purge stream. The retrofit approach is far more cost-effective than building a new separate system and will provide for the removal of up to 2 percent suspended solids and other contaminants indigenous to the purge stream and make the plant fully compliant with stringent permit effluent limits.
An added challenge of this design integration is the need to meet an additional effluent requirement for mercury reduction to a level of 35 Parts Per Trillion (PPT). This major achievement will be accomplished using state-of-the-art and patent-pending technologies developed by IDI for FGD wastewater applications. The IX™ ion exchange process for mercury removal was developed in collaboration with Dow Chemical and has been extensively piloted at multiple generating stations in the U.S.
Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) awarded the contract to IDI based on its extensive database, broad track record with complex, performance-based FGD wastewater treatment systems and its flexible design and cost-effectiveness.
Bert Valenkamph, NIPSCO's Director of Station Chemistry and Environmental Compliance said, "We have excellent people from a number of companies working together on this project to make it happen," while Diane Martini, Water Treatment Specialist from Sargent & Lundy affirmed that, "It is great to work with an excellent team."
The new constructed wastewater treatment system will consist of two 100 percent trains that are capable of functioning either in series or in parallel while allowing each major piece of equipment to be interchanged between the two trains. The R.M. Schahfer Station Retrofit Project is expected to go online in early 2014.
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