NEWS

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Contact:

Desalitech Ltd, One Gateway Center,

Suite 250, Newton, MA 02458, USA.

Tel: +1 617 564 1647,

www.desalitech.com

Puron MBR at Ma'amir plant reaches one-year milestone

US-based Koch Membrane Systems Inc (KMS), a Koch Chemical

Technology Group Llc company, reports that the Puron membrane bioreactor (MBR) it provided for a sewage treat-ment plant based at Ma'amir, Bahrain, has been operating successfully for the past 12 months.

Approximately a year ago, the Kingdom of Bahrain Minister of Works, Essam bin Abdulla Khalaf, inaugurated the new plant – described as a landmark project because it was the first of its kind in the country to adopt advanced wastewater treatment technology.

Ma'amir is located about 15 km (9 miles) south of Manama, the capital of Bahrain. The facility is part of a larger sanitation pro-ject in the region which links the industrial area and all unconnected houses of Ma'amir to the sewage network. The project was designed and built by Zohal Construction Co, which also has an agreement to operate and maintain the facility for the first two years.

The MBR system treats the municipal effluent from the village as well as effluent from nearby industrial areas. It is designed to meet stringent surface discharge limits for vari-ous parameters, such as BOD, total suspended solids, and total nitrogen and phosphate limits. The plant produces high purity water suitable for unrestricted irrigation purposes, and handles an average flow of 2200 m3 (581 180 gallons) a day, with peaks of up to 3600 m3 (951 000 gallons) a day.

‘The demand for membrane technology in the Middle East region continues to increase steadily,’ commented Jack Noble, Commercial Director EMEA, KMS.

‘We have executed numerous MBR projects in the region and are now happy to have this environment-friendly technology also operating in Bahrain. The results of the treated effluent from this plant are excellent and meet client expectations.’

According to the operators, the Puron MBR system has been performing as

designed with no issues. ‘What I liked about the system is the control philosophy,’ said Subash D. Nair, Project Manager, Zohal Construction.

‘KMS has anticipated all the scenarios and problems an operator faces during the opera-tion of the plant and designed the control sys-tem accordingly. When we look back after 12 months of operation and maintenance of the facility, we are satisfied with the performance of the plant and are pleased with our choice of Koch Membrane Systems.’

Contact:

Koch Membrane Systems Inc, 850 Main Street,

Wilmington, MA 01887-3388, USA.

Tel: +1 978 694 7000,

www.kochmembrane.com

Pentair opens new Eastern European hub in Moscow

Pentair Ltd has recently opened a new strategic hub in the heart of

Moscow, Russia.Designed as a central office for its opera-

tions in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the new site com-bines several business units under one roof: Pentair Thermal Management, Pentair Equipment Protection, Pentair Flow Technologies and Pentair Filtration & Process.

Pentair says the new premises brings it closer to its customers, enabling it to better serve their needs. Co-locating the company’s business units also allows for further strate-gic developments, creates new employment opportunities and will help develop its distri-bution and operational capabilities. In addi-tion, the new office complements Pentair’s existing presence in the area, which currently includes locations in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Siberia.

Speaking on the new development, Andrey Kleymenov, Vice President and Managing Director, Pentair, Eastern Europe, said: ‘The new office in Moscow demonstrates our commitment to customers in Russia, Eastern Europe and the CIS. With several of our key global business units on one site, we can better anticipate market needs, share knowledge and capabilities, and pursue our strategy for growth in the region from one central hub.’

In addition to the new site in Russia’s capital, Pentair is changing the name of its legal entity in the country to Pentair RUS.

Contacts:

Pentair Ltd, Freier Platz 10, Schaffhausen, 8200

Switzerland. Tel: +41 52 630 48 00,

www.pentair.com

Pentair, 5500 Wayzata Boulevard, Suite 800,

Minneapolis, MN 55416, USA.

Tel: +1 763 545 1730

Depth filter clarifies high- density pretreated feed streams

The Clarisolve depth filter from EMD Millipore – the life sciences division

of Merck KgaA of Darmstadt, Germany – has been developed for single-stage clarification of pretreated feed streams.

It is described as a novel clarification device with a gradient density structure specifically designed to the particle size distributions of pretreated feed streams.

Delivering improved volumetric capac-ity and reduced turbidity over any cur-rently available depth filtration technologies, Clarisolve depth filters process pretreated feeds in a significantly reduced footprint without the need for a secondary stage of clarification, says the company.

The filter eliminates the need for centrifu-gation which enables the implementation of a single-use process train, and also considerably reduces pre-use flushing requirements.

This technology was developed to address the shortcomings of traditional downstream clari-fication approaches when processing high cell density and high-product titre cell cultures, says EMD Millipore.

‘Until now, higher titres coming from upstream bioreactors have posed a challenge to conventional approaches to clarification,’ explained Vin Donovan, Vice President, Biopharm Process Solutions, EMD Millipore.

‘With Clarisolve depth filters, our custom-ers can now take full advantage of high-density pretreated feed streams and improve overall process economics.’

Contacts:

EMD Millipore, 290 Concord Road,

Billerica, MA 01821, USA.

Tel: +1 978 715 4321,

www.millipore.com

Merck KgaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293

Darmstadt, Germany. Tel: +49 6151 720,

www.merck.de

Membrane Technology February 2014