GE’s innovative technologies optimise water resources

GE serves a broad range of industries with a portfolio of advanced equipment and chemical Technologies

A brief history

According to a report conducted by the World Bank last year, over the past decade annual investment into Vietnam’s sanitation sector was estimated at $150 million. Thus in the total, a sum of $2.1 billion was spent on drainage and wastewater during 1995-2009. This represented about 0.45 per cent of the nation’s annual GDP.

Despite Vietnam’s impressive achievements in improving waste water treatment, urban sanitation continues to be a critical issue that needs to be urgently addressed. Although 60 per cent of households dispose of their waste water into a public system, much of this is directed informally into the drainage system and only 10 per cent is treated. While 90 per cent of households dispose of wastewater in septic tanks, only 4 per cent is treated. Fecal sludge management is generally poor in most cities and provinces across the nation.

Poor sanitation leads to economic losses of $780 million or 1.3 per cent of Vietnam’s GDP every year, according to the report, which urged the sanitation sector to address several critical issues.

As of 2012, 17 municipal wastewater plants had been constructed in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang and another five systems in provincial towns and cities with the total capacity of 530,000 cubic metres per day. Currently some 30 new wastewater systems, primarily with combined systems, are in the design or construction stages.

By 2025 Vietnam will need about $8.3 billion to develop and provide waste water treatment services to its 36 million urban residents, according to the World Bank report. This could be a huge opportunity for any private investors looking to involve in the sector.

While the nation faces urban waste water treatment challenges, industrial waste water treatment is also an emerging problem correlative with industrial development. As of the end of 2013, Vietnam had 289 industrial and export processing zones (IEPZs) in 58 cities and provinces, 191 of which were operational. Although the Vietnamese government’s 2011-2015 plan requires all operating IEPZs to install centralised effluent treatment plants, 92 zones have yet to construct any waste water treatment facilities. This means that their discharged waste water is currently receiving no treatment.

Advanced technology for complex problems

Built on more than 85 years of expertise and innovation, GE Water & Process Technologies is a global company and strategic business partner that offers equipment solutions and services to help solve the world’s most complex water-related challenges.

Focused on issues related to availability, quality, productivity, the environment and energy, GE brings together experienced professionals and advanced technologies to provide innovative solutions in the management and optimisation of water resources. From power and chemical processing to food and beverage, GE serves a broad range of industries with a portfolio of advanced equipment and chemical technologies.

- Power

Take, for example, the fact that power producers are facing increasingly stringent regulations on water and solid waste discharge, CO2 emissions, selenium/mercury removal and air quality. GE can help plants meet these regulations while reducing costs and producing more power.

Its approach to cooling water treatment maximises heat transfer efficiency and protects equipment with proactive solutions. A combination of patented chemistry, decades of experience, and GE’s innovative TrueSense* online monitoring and analytics platform serves open-recirculating, closed-loop, or once-through systems. TrueSense continuously measures and applies the right amount of chemistry for corrosion, deposit, and microbiological control. When complemented with GE’s patented chemistry, TrueSense provides the measurement and control tools needed to fully optimise cooling operations.

Tackling seawater desalination requires careful testing and design early in the project lifecycle. GE’s Procera* solution starts with pretreatment components that protect membrane desalination systems by removing suspended solids and impurities. After careful analysis of source water and conservation needs, modular desal systems are fitted to the application. With 50+ years of experience and 250+ seawater reverse osmosis installations, customers can have confidence in GE’s ability to design, manufacture, and deliver high-quality, consistent desalination solutions.

When it comes to waste water treatment, GE offers a full portfolio of products and services that are designed to help operators contribute to a sustainable water supply that reduces discharge by increasing reuse opportunities. One such product is Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology. MBRs offer effective treatment to remove suspended solids, reduce organic content and reduce concentrations of nutrients so that the water can be reused.

- Chemical processing

Ethylene, styrene, ammonia, and other chemical producers need longer run times, less fouling, and improved compliance with safety regulations. GE has a complete line of chemical treatments to help, including the GenGard* deposition control programme for open recirculating cooling systems, which can be applied across the entire pH spectrum and ensures uncompromising results even under the most stressful conditions.

Also available is Thermoflo*, a line of antifoluant chemicals that is designed to maximise throughput and increase production, improve product quality and overall equipment reliability, reduce equipment cleaning and replacement costs, and lower overall energy and waste disposal costs.

- Food and beverage

Because a bottling facility has different needs than a brewery or snack food manufacturer, GE has built a water treatment portfolio to target specific challenges like production uptime, foam control, and cleaning regulation. Among other things, GE’s equipment, chemicals, and service solutions can help food and beverage customers recover the maximum amount of water from ingredient water systems, recover valuable byproducts (sugar, protein and starch), protect and treat cooling towers and boilers, clean wastewater for discharge or reuse, and improve uptime.

With GE’s advanced membranes, including nanofiltration, microfiltration, and ultrafiltration membranes, dairy producers can turn cheese whey into valuable product, starch processors can purify glucose at a high temperature and pressure, wine makers can enhance colour and flavor while eliminating the use and disposal of diatomaceous earth, and food processors can increase protein concentration while minimising product losses.

GE’s BEV Series reverse osmosis systems are specifically designed for production of ingredient water for carbonated soft drinks, juices, bottled water, and non-carbonated beverages. GE has the confidence of leading beverage suppliers to help protect their brands, with the largest installed base of water treatment systems in the world for beverage ingredient water production.

So far, GE has supplied a diversified portfolio of advanced equipment and solutions in the management and treatment of water resources for many countries around the world including Vietnam. A focus on innovation and an emphasis on practicality helps GE serve the unique and challenging needs of each individual application.

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