ABU DHABI, UAE, July 24, 2008 -- Toray Industries Inc. announced that it has supplied polyvinylidene fluoride submerged membrane module used in membrane bioreactors, or MBRs, to a sewage recycling plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The plant, located in Al Ain in the eastern part of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, is designed to purify sewage at the pumping stations of the sewer network using MBR and supply the processed water to the surrounding region for irrigation use. The plant is being constructed by METITO, a UAE-based water treatment engineering company, and will have the capacity to treat 15,000 m³/day (three units of 5,000 m³/day) and is expected to start operations later this year. In addition to this project, Toray has won orders to supply submerged membrane module for MBRs to be used in two other sewage plants in UAE with processing capacities of 38,000 m³/day and 45,000 m³/day. The company is scheduled to supply membranes within this fiscal year.
MBRs use micro filtration membranes immersed in the activated sludge tank of sewage plants to get highly clarified water. Compared to the existing treatments through activated sludge/sedimentation, this method not only saves significant amount of space but also provides high quality water, which has led to growing demand around the world. The MBR method also eliminates the excess sludge generated in the existing processes thus reducing the environmental impact.
Toray's MBR submerged membranes use a flat sheet membrane made from polyvinylidene fluoride, or PVDF, and have the following advantages:
1. High water permeation rate per unit area of membrane in sewage treatment
2. Resistant to stain
3. High chemical resistance
4. Consumes less energy
Recycle plants that use membrane technology occupy less space than regular wastewater treatment plants, can be used in urban areas where the wastewater is generated and are relatively less expensive and therefore hold great promise. The market for MBR submerged membranes used here is estimated to be growing rapidly at a 20% annual rate. Toray, though rather late to enter this market, has already won orders for MBR submerged membranes for both large and small plants treating a total of about 200,000 m³/day, primarily in the Middle Eastern market including the delivery announced this time. Its MBR submerged membranes are also being used in the recycling plants in the Beijing Olympic venue and other areas in China and Toray is actively pursuing sales expansion of these membranes with focus on industrial wastewater treatment. Given the tight supply-demand situation in the wastewater treatment market, Toray plans to greatly expand its production capacity for MBR submerged membranes to make active contributions to efforts in tackling the global water-related environmental issues.
Toray has been promoting the MBR submerged membranes around the world by taking full advantage of its global sales network for reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, its mainstay water treatment membrane, and has succeeded in winning major orders in the scale of tens of thousands m³/ day. Toray intends to grow the MBR submerged membranes into the second pillar in its water treatment business following the RO membrane business.
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