UK major utility Thames Water has awarded Calgon Carbon's European operating group, Chemviron, a 10-year contract to reactivate spent activated carbon used to treat drinking water.
The value of the contract is dependent upon the amount of carbon that is reactivated annually, which is expected to be approximately 11 million lbs (5,000 MT).
Chemviron Carbon will reactivate the spent carbon at its Tipton plant (Tipton) near Birmingham, U.K., following a $9.5-million renovation and expansion of the facility, which is expected to be completed in 2014.
Once granular carbon is saturated or the treatment objective is reached, it can be recycled, by thermal reactivation, for reuse. Reactivation involves treating the spent carbon in a high temperature reactivation furnace to over 800°C. During this treatment process, the undesirable organics on the carbon are thermally destroyed.
The plant’s production capacity will be increased from approximately 13 million lbs (5,800 MT) to 18 million lbs (8,200 MT). Until the project is completed, Thames’s carbon will be reactivated at Chemviron Carbon’s facilities in Grays, UK and Feluy, Belgium.
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