Chemical-free water treatment

In early 2012 Pathema B.V. installed an IVG-C CoolWater skid at Vitelco, enabling the evaporative condenser to run without the use of any chemicals at all. It was ‘Phase I’ of a much bigger project which in the meantime is almost ready for phase IV. This is the story of a collaboration which has given Vitelco much more than just cost savings.
   
Vitelco, part of the PALI Group, slaughters over 350,000 calves each year. The meat is prepared in line with the wishes of retail and foodservice customers at home and abroad. Approximately 70% of the exported veal remains within Europe and the other 30% goes to Asia, the Middle East and the USA. 

Phase I

In early 2012 Pathema B.V. installed an IVG-C CoolWater skid. This enables Vitelco B.V.’s evaporative condenser to operate entirely chemical-free. The discharge water is fully recyclable and is used in place of tap water in the company’s truck wash system. The ROI for this equipment turned out to be 2.4 years thanks to the savings on tap water and on chemicals to tackle lime scale and corrosive deposits and for microbiological treatments.

Pathema B.V. is a supplier of sustainable technology to industry and society. “We are motivated by the will to profitably reduce water scarcity in harmony with the environment,” says Mark Boeren from Pathema. “Water is a scarce resource and it is our shared duty to use it responsibly. Our aim is to reduce the burden on the market through our technological solutions. We are also keen to be part of the change process from the start, so that we can provide full support to the customer and enable them to maximise their investment. We help them to save money and the environment!”  

Phase II

In September 2014 Pathema installed NANO filtration which uses groundwater and/or rainwater to reduce the use of tap water for the evaporative condenser and the truck wash. The previous concentration cycle (factor 2.3) was increased to factor 8.0 thanks to the high water quality. The annual costs for cooling water have since dropped by 87% compared with 2011. The expected ROI of this investment is less than two years! The tap-water saving for the evaporative condenser turned out to be 95% and for the truck wash it was 100%.     

Phase III

In January 2015 a second IVG-C CoolWater skid was installed for the chemical-free treatment of the cooling water in the two evaporative condensers at the neighbouring company Vrieskade B.V., another part of the PALI Group which freezes the veal. The combined capacity of the three individual evaporative condensers, 2.2 mW in total, is now served by a single water treatment system. “This set-up means that less technical maintenance is needed and it enables direct monitoring of the water quality,” explains Mark.

Safety

Tom Theunissen, head of the maintenance department at Vitelco, is happy with the new situation. “Even though the decision for the Pathema system was primarily based on costs savings, it has also brought us extra safety benefits for our employees. In the past, someone always had to add the chemicals manually. Furthermore, we can now see the values in real time. Before the new system was installed we had to send a sample to the lab, but now we can take action immediately if there are any deviations in the values. The system is also much more stable.” An added bonus is that the system stays cleaner for longer; filters now only have to be cleaned once a month. Theunissen: “Now that the teething troubles have been ironed out, we have discovered that the water treatment causes old lime scale deposits to dissolve or loosen and they end up in the drip tray. That means we have to stay alert, because some bigger pieces can sometimes fall onto the filter. However, that is one of Pathema’s strengths: no matter when you call them, they’re available to help you out with advice and support 24/7.”

'The tap-water saving for the evaporative condenser turned out to be 95%'

Increasing sustainability step by step – Phase IV

Mark Boeren from Pathema: “The aim is to implement a circular flow model. This means minimal usage of natural resources and chemicals and maximum reuse of the flows of resources, namely water. In this case, 100% of the discharge water is recycled and in the future we intend to treat a large proportion of the waste water so that it can also be reused in the process. This will further improve the sustainability of the process and lead to even lower running costs.”

Possible applications and advantages 

• Chemical-free water treatment 
• Reduced water consumption, improved water quality
• Reduced energy consumption
• 100%-recyclable discharge water
• Reuse of waste water/effluent
• No discharge costs/taxes
• Discharge water can be released as surface water/rainwater
• Employee safety
• Tighter grip on and direct control of the cooling process

In the Benelux region, Pathema supplies, leases and maintains chemical-free water treatment systems which are developed and manufactured in-house. References are available for various applications and installations which have been operational for some time.

Branches: 

• (Cold-chain) logistics
• Food processing industry
• Leisure (sport and ice-skating tracks)
• Manufacturing and utilities
• Data centres

The operation has been tested successfully by various bodies including ISPT (Institute for Sustainable Process Technology, NL), VITO/VAKWA (BE) and TU/e (partial report Influence of Vortex Treatment, NL).
                                                             
www.pathema.nl