Improving sustainability with Pathema

Pathema BV’s Industrial Vortex Generator-Circulation (IVG-C) CoolWater technology is a total solution for managing and recycling cooling water without the use of any chemicals at all. The technology has been nominated for an industry award for process innovation: the Proces Innovatie Prijs ('PIP') 2014.

Thanks to an effective combination of techniques, Pathema’s innovation makes it possible to operate a cooling tower or evaporative condenser sustainably in terms of water use: it is a ‘plug & play’ system which sets a new standard for the chemical-free treatment of cooling water using less water and less energy.

Water cooling

“Many industrial processes involve cooling using an evaporative condenser or cooling tower,” says Mark Boeren, director of Pathema. “When water is condensed conventionally, chemicals are added to the cooling water in order to reduce calcium deposits, corrosion and microbiological growth. The residual cooling water after condensing contains chemicals and must be purified – and that places a burden our environment as well as a financial burden on the end user.”

Artificial vortex

By creating an artificial vortex in the vortex generator, a vacuum is produced which removes micro and nano gas bubbles from the water through centrifugal force. This results in the development of crystallising calcium ions which are completely dissolved in the water. Additionally, the degassing alters the water viscosity, which enables it to be fed onto the cooling surface more efficiently and significantly improves the heat conduction. Since gas is an important insulator, removing it from the water improves the conduction of heat and cold. This not only results in less energy being required for cooling purposes, but also improves the quality of the cooling water. Thanks to the incorporation of various techniques such as hydrocavitation, UV-C, electrolysis, filtering and process sensoring, this technology is a total solution for sustainable treatment of cooling water.

Performance in practice

Over the past year, Pathema has collaborated with the ISPT, Bodec, Huntsman, FrieslandCampina and Heineken to conduct a number of extensive practical trials, and the results have been particularly positive. Mark Boeren: “At the Heineken brewery in Den Bosch it was demonstrated that the IVG-C CoolWater performed the same or even better than traditional chemical water treatment in terms of the three most important aspects (calcium deposits, corrosion and microbiological growth). That case revealed an ROI in the technology of 2 to 3 years.”

Tomorrow’s standard

It is Pathema BV’s ambition to supply sustainable water technology: “A water treatment process that will become tomorrow’s standard, without the use of chemicals and/or additives, and which is also water-saving, energy-saving and low maintenance,” summarises Boeren.

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