Imagination at work

Technology is driving energy neutrality in wastewater treatment

Top 5 Questions to the CTO

Tom Stanley, Chief Technology Officer

GE Water & Process Technologies

What are the biggest challenges facing municipalities and how can technology help remove barriers to success?

Question 1:

3

“Increasing demand is pushing municipal systems to their limits; our infrastructure is aging, yet expected to meet more arduous discharge requirements.

Our local governments are strapped for cash, but need to provide their citizens with safe and reliable services. So what’s the answer? I believe it is technology.

The advances in water and wastewater treatment technology over the last few years are remarkable. Appropriate and cost effective enhancements can be made to existing infrastructure that provide impressive results.”

Challenges:• Population increase = growing

capacity demands• Increasing capacity =

increased energy demand to treat wastewater

• New and more stringent discharge regulations

Technology can:• Reduce energy consumption

with better primary treatment and biological processes

• Increase energy production with anaerobic digestion and energy recovery

• Provide low capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditure (OPEX) expansion of existing WWTP capacity

TECHNOLOGY REMOVING BARRIERS TO SUCCESS

As energy demand continues to grow globally, what role will technology (and technology providers) play in creating a more sustainable energy environment?

Question 2:

5

“Replicating past solutions simply won’t work. Technology providers need to push the envelope and offer more energy efficient solutions that are innovative and robust.

Operational flexibility is crucial, as is the ability to harness the power of the Industrial Internet. Machines need to interact with one another and work proactively to supply operators with the information they need to make smarter decisions.

It’s all about the ability to predict what could happen and what is possible, then having the flexibility to alter operations to achieve specific and individual results.”

New technology must: • Address the needs of new

plants and retrofit to existing footprints

• Offer flexibility to accommodate varying needs and changing requirements

• Be equipped to interact with other assets

Smart machines can:• Interact and communicate with

one another to ensure optimal performance

• Predict future issues and alert operators before said issues occur

• Suggest appropriate actions to avoid unscheduled downtime

CREATING A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ENVIRONMENT

Why is energy neutrality the new aspiration and how is technology supporting its acceleration in the municipal space?

Question 3:

7

“As populations increase, so too does the demand for electricity at wastewater treatment plants. Conventional plants consume a tremendous amount of energy; in fact, wastewater treatment in the US accounts for 3% of the national electrical load.

We must focus on transforming our treatment plants from energy users to empowered energy producers. The technology exists for both new and existing facilities, but change is never easy. Technology needs to usher in new trends and facilities need to embrace the innovative and disruptive solutions that make energy neutrality possible. ”

It’s time to make a change:• Community drinking water and

publicly owned wastewater systems in the U.S. use 75 billion kWh of energy per year – that’s enough electricity to power 6.75 million homes (EPA, 2009)

• The energy content of municipal sewage is 2-4 times greater than the energy required to treat it (WERF, 2011)

Resource recovery requires:• The extraction of energy

content in wastewater organics• Combustion, oxidation, or

compression to convert extracted energy into a useable form

Title or Job Number | XX Month 201X

ADOPTION OF ENERGY NEUTRALITY

What technology innovation is GE’s water and process business bringing to market that will help facilities achieve energy efficiency and potentially put them on the path towards energy neutrality?

Question 4:

9

“The path to energy neutrality is paved with a handful of GE technologies. For example, GE’s new ZeeLung* membrane aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) offers simple, low-energy nutrient removal in a small footprint. It is an ideal solution for existing CAS plants in need of upgraded capacity or expansion, and provides four times greater energy efficiency than bubble aeration.

For complete energy neutrality, the key is to capture and divert a high percentage of organics to an anaerobic digester where biomass is converted to biogas. GE’s advanced digestion technology provides a 20% to 30% higher biogas yield than conventional anaerobic digestion.”

LEAPprimary*:• Combines separation, thickening,

and dewatering of primary solids in a single compact unit.

• Saves 25% in energy costs on primary treatment for MBR

ZeeLung: • Employs a gas transfer membrane

to deliver oxygen to a biofilm that is attached to the surface of the membrane

• 4X greater energy efficiency vs. conventional bubble aeration

Advanced anaerobic digestion (AAD):• Increases the conversion of sludge

into biogas while minimizing the tank volume compared to conventional digestion.

• 20-30% higher biogas yield than conventional anaerobic digestion

ENERGY AS A CORE DRIVER

Is energy neutrality something that is limited to municipalities or can industry reap the benefits as well?

Question 5:

11

“Scale is key to supporting the economics of an energy neutral facility, but many industrial facilities are not scaleable. That said, there are a lot of great opportunities when it comes to increasing the energy efficiency of industrial wastewater treatment. The appropriate technology depends on the amount of organic content.

For example, GE’s anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) technology is a great solution for facilities with high organic content. AnMBR integrates membrane quality filtration to improve reliability and robustness of anaerobic treatment outside of the municipal space.”

AnMBR offers:• A low-cost, high-performance

combination of anaerobic digestion technology and ZeeWeed* 500 membranes

• An anaerobic digestion process in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen

• GE’s patented ZeeWeed reinforced hollow fiber membranes to address the issues associated with traditional anaerobic processes

• An overall outcome that separates solids retention time (SRT) from hydraulic retention time (HRT) for a more robust biological process

GE’S TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION SPURS THE INDUSTRY

* Trademark of General Electric Company; may be registered in one or more countries.

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