GREIFENBERG, Germany, May 16, 2012 -- German water treatment company inge GmbH will supply ultrafiltration technology to British company VWS Westgarth to treat water on an oil rig.
VWS Westgarth has ordered a total of more than 600 dizzer® modules for an ultrafiltration system with a capacity of some 62,000 m³/day (approx. 391,000 BWPD). The ultrafiltration pretreatment stage will deliver fine filtered seawater (0.01 µm) to the Sulphate Removal Package (SRP), which will then feed the water injection pumps.
The water is pumped into the rock formations that lie beneath natural gas and oil fields in order to counteract the steady drop in pressure that occurs during the extraction process. Injecting water to maintain the pressure is the only way of ensuring consistently high oil recovery rates. The level of purity of water pumped into the rock is important because this has a major impact on both the quality and recovery rates and thus the costs of the oil extraction process.
To guarantee the quality of the injected water on the drilling platforms, VWS Westgarth has chosen to deploy ultrafiltration technology based on inge's patented Multibore® membrane. Thanks to its special honeycomb design, the Multibore® membrane is extremely robust and requires minimal maintenance, making it the perfect choice to withstand the harsh environment of an oil platform. The pores in the membranes are so tiny that they are capable of filtering suspended solids and microorganisms out of the water by purely physical means. In addition, inge's break-proof Multibore® membrane is considered to be the most reliable product of its kind on the market. Ultrafiltration provides a significant weight/footprint reduction and improved water quality compared with conventional seawater filtration technology.
"We are tremendously proud to see a prominent and prestigious company like VWS Westgarth choosing to put its trust in our technology," stated Bruno Steis, CEO of inge GmbH. "The oil and gas production industry is a strategically important market for us. According to one recent forecast by the International Energy Agency (IEA), global energy demand -- and thus demand for oil and gas -- is set to rise by a third by 2035. VWS Westgarth is an important customer to have on our books in this promising market."
About VWS WestgarthVWS Westgarth is an upstream water treatment specialist and a member of the VWS Oil & Gas, part of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies. VWS Westgarth has extensive experience in water treatment solutions in the oil and gas production sector and in desalination systems for industry and the public sector. The company has more than 9,600 employees and is present in 57 countries.About inge GmbH
inge GmbH, based in Greifenberg, Germany employs more than 80 staff and is a world's leading provider of ultrafiltration technology, a membrane process used to treat drinking water, process water, wastewater and sea water. With a global reach enhanced by its network of partners, the company has completed numerous reference products around the globe featuring its cutting- edge technology. Since August 2011, inge has been part of BASF, the world's leading chemical company. Its range of products include highly-efficient ultrafiltration modules and cost- effective, space-saving rack designs as the core components of water treatment plants, rounded off by the superb technical support it provides to its customers. All the company's products are based on the in-house development of its patented Multibore® membrane technology, providing the top-quality standards for which German-made goods are famous. The extremely small-pore filters of the Multibore® membrane reliably intercept not only particles, but also microorganisms such as bacteria or even viruses, thereby providing a dependable source of clean water. Deployment of the inge technology also offers significant advantages over conventional water treatment methods, such as rapid and easy module installation and stable, highly resilient membranes. This makes planning a water treatment facility much simpler, enabling customers to achieve low-cost installation and operation. And all this comes with a guarantee of long-lasting reliability. For more information: www.inge.ag.About BASF
BASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. We combine economic success, social responsibility and environmental protection. Through science and innovation we enable our customers in almost all industries to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and system solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring healthy food and nutrition and helping to improve the quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF posted sales of about €73.5 billion in 2011 and had more than 111,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.About BASF's Business Water Solutions
The product range of BASF's business Water Solutions includes products used in the key processes of municipal and industrial water treatment: Products to clarify the raw water used for the production of drinking water, treating the waste water stream and reducing sludge volumes as well as for the treatment of industrial process water and the protection of cooling towers and boilers. Our products are marketed worldwide. We are one of the leading suppliers. BASF estimates the market of the growth field water at 20 billion € with a sales potential of more than 800 million €. Further information on our products can be found at: www.watersolutions.basf.com.
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