10/07/2012 (Environmental Expert) - Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (Veolia) today revealed a new anaerobic membrane bio-reactor (AnMBR), Memthane®, to the Asian market. This innovation was developed by Biothane, a 100% Veolia subsidiary that has made significant headway in its Asian business in recent months.

Memthane® AnMBR
Memthane®, the most recent Biothane innovation, is an anaerobic digestion technology that requires a small footprint and makes it possible to efficiently treat high-strength waste streams. These were previously considered economically untreatable through traditional wastewater processes. The system maximizes the removal of COD[1] and TSS[2], reducing disposal costs in the process while generating methane-rich biogas for even greater energy savings. All of these are achieved without the drawbacks inherent to energy-intensive aerobic systems.

Michel OTTEN, Technical Director, PT Biothane Asia Pacific, said, “With its ability to process high-strength effluents, Memthane® is indeed a breakthrough technology. Customers that operate distilleries, dairies, bio-ethanol production facilities and food production plants can now easily achieve exceptional effluent quality, coupled with lower operating costs.”

Biothane in Asia
Within Asia, Biothane technologies have been successfully adopted in various industries such as food & beverage, pulp & paper and more recently in the palm oil market.

Palm oil mills place great emphasis on better resource management and water conservation, and Veolia has successfully met these demands through leading-edge Biothane Anaerobic technological solution. In East Malaysia, the company recently built a Biothane anaerobic system to treat the effluent generated by a local palm oil mill. The facility comprises of an Anaerobic and Aerobic wastewater treatment plant and a biogas power generation plant, and is expected to treat effluent of up to 20ppm of BOD[3]. This turnkey solution is economically efficient and complies with the most stringent international environmental standards.

Within the pulp & paper industry, highly concentrated effluents are common. This makes Biobed®EGSB (Expanded Granular Sludge Bed) an ideal technology for the sector. Earlier this year, Veolia was awarded a contract to install an anaerobic wastewater treatment system for Ajin Paper & Packing Co., Ltd. The South Korean company manufactures corrugated media and testliner paper from recycled paper. The Biobed®EGSB process treats 7,000m3 / day of effluent and converts 65% of the 14,000kg of COD load to biogas on a daily basis. Additional benefits of this installation include reduced carbon footprint, energy recovery, a small surface area requirement, as well as zero odor and noise emissions.

William SOLARY, General Manager, PT Biothane Asia Pacific, commented, “We are excited about the progress Biothane has made in Asia. Besides its achievements in the POME and pulp & paper sectors, Biothane has also been successful in industries such as food & beverage, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. With these differentiating technologies, customers will be able to enjoy significant return on their investments, while minimizing their impact on the environment.”