22 Application

Filtration+Separation May/June 2015

Food & beverage

High quality water

leads to brewing
a better beer
reweries need power to manufacture their products and
B power plants need consistent, high-quality water to operate
effectively. But that quality can vary depending on factors
such as location, water chemistry and even time of year.
A power station for a major brewer in North America turned
to Dow Water & Process Solutions and Consolidated Water
Solutions to ensure a steady flow of beer thanks to a pure,
more consistent water supply.

Power plants rely on a steady stream of
water to convert heat energy into electrical
energy to drive the turbines that run the
electric generators. To accomplish this, the
plants require high quality feed water to
operate their boiler and cooling system.
The treatment of boiler feed water is
critical, as problems can result from
the use of untreated water in extreme
pressure and temperature environments,
including lower efficiency, overheating,
damage and the need for frequent
cleaning. Since 95% of water used in plant
operations can be reused, it is vital that
both the feed water and recycled steams
are effectively treated to prevent scale and
corrosion in the steam water circuit.
After seven years operating effectively
with a two-pass reverse osmosis (RO)
system, Consolidated and Dow worked
with the power company to evaluate
system alternatives for a next-generation
configuration.
To help further reduce the energy
required to treat boiler feed make-up
water and meet the brewerys electrical
energy and process steam requirements,
the plant reconfigured and upgraded
its water treatment system with DOW
FILMTEC ECO Reverse Osmosis Elements.

Consolidated Water Solutions

Consolidated Water Solutions

continues to serve the industrial
water treatment industry
throughout America by offering
solutions for nearly any water
treatment challenge. The
company specialises in reverse
osmosis technology providing
RO membranes, chemicals and
machines. The company goal is
to minimise the use of chemicals
by integrating state-of-the-art
Filmtec Eco membrane technology won a prestigious Edison Award for its innovation and equipment into every application.
contribution to combating global water scarcity.

www.filtsep.com 0262 1762/15 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

 Application 23
Filtration+Separation May/June 2015

Dow Filmtec Eco RO Elements configuration

offers the possibility of higher rejection of
salts at significantly reduced operating
pressures, helping deliver up to 40%
better water purification while
using up to 30% less energy.

Recognising
the perilous
state of
water demand,
the systems
configuration offers
the possibility of
higher rejection of salts
at significantly reduced
operating pressures, helping
deliver up to 40% better water
purification while using
up to 30% less energy, potentially resulting
in up to 19% lower operating costs.
Dow Water & Process Solutions
Due to the highly-variable and seasonally-
tempered nature of the power stations Dow Water & Process Solutions
source water, a combination of mountain offers a broad portfolio of ion
exchange resins, reverse osmosis
and snow run-off, the plant requires a
membranes, ultrafiltration
treatment technology that functions
membranes, fine particle filters
effectively across various temperatures
and electrode ionisation products,
and pressures. Since incorporating Filmtec
within major application areas
Eco RO Elements into the system, the
including industrial and municipal
plant has been able to reduce energy and
water, industrial processes,
operational costs because the pressure pharmaceuticals, power, oil and
vessel is able to function optimally at gas, residential water and waste
50-60 psi lower pressure than before. and water reuse.

The winter months add additional concern,

as the source water reaches colder
temperatures of about 45F, requiring the
system to operate at a higher pressure,
which requires more energy. The new
system is able to handle high feed water
rates and hit peak water flow times in
winter with lower pipe pressure and
reduced fouling in the RO system, requiring
less cleaning to restore productivity.
generation reverse osmosis technology,
said Craig Granlund, senior account
manager, Dow Water & Process Solutions.
The significant improvement in efficiency
will help the power plant improve system
performance while at the same time reducing
the brewerys environmental footprint.

The cost of cleaning, downtime and lost
system performance can be significant,
so reduced fouling is key to cutting costs
while providing reliable power to the
brewery for operations.
Collaborating with Consolidated on this
project has been a great opportunity
to improve the operational capacity
of energy production utilising next-
We are proud that our system is better
equipped to provide reliable energy to
our customer, ensuring the delivery and
longstanding tradition of one of the most
popular beers in America, added Duane
Miller, president of Consolidated Water
Solutions.
www.consolidatedh2o.com
www.dowwaterandprocess.com

www.filtsep.com