DuPont™ OxyMem™ MABR Poised for Installation at Elmira WWTP, Canada
Press Release | March 29, 2023
The Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR) installation is planned to help increase the treatment capacity of the plant in the Region of Waterloo, one of the fastest-growing areas of Ontario, Canada.
WILMINGTON, Del., March 29, 2023 – DuPont (NYSE:DD) – Later this year, several DuPont™ OxyMem™ membrane aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) modules will be installed at the Elmira Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) to increase biological treatment capacity, thus becoming the largest deployment of OxyMem™ MABR in Canada. The project is being implemented by DuPont with facilitation by local water and wastewater equipment specialist Aquafy Water Technologies Inc. Support for the project will also be provided by engineering consultancy Jacobs and construction contractor H2Ontario.
Located in the Region of Waterloo, the Elmira WWTP is a Class III wastewater treatment plant, constructed in 1967 with process upgrades in 1983 and 2000. The activated sludge plant uses tertiary filtration to treat wastewater from the town of Elmira, providing an average daily capacity of 7,800 m3/d and a daily peak flow capacity of 19,500 m3/d. Local industrial activity is one reason the plant approaches maximum capacity at times.
“This will be the second full-scale operational MABR deployment in the Region of Waterloo,” said Max Rao, president of Aquafy Water Technologies Inc. “It represents a tremendous vote of confidence in the latest MABR technology, with the solution poised to deliver process intensification at the Elmira WWTP. The OxyMem™ MABR units will help expand current treatment capacity without requiring additional footprint, and will consume little energy when compared to traditional upgrade solutions.”
MABR technology was selected for the project due to space limitations on site. Site personnel were eager to achieve and verify actual process intensification, and were excited to do so without substantial construction and without expanding operations. The drop-in modular nature of the OxyMem™ MABR is the solution that gives the Region the ability to easily expand capacity in the future if and when desired.
For most plants, the drop-in MABR modules can be installed into existing tanks, without the need for overpumping, draining of tanks or pausing the treatment process. The modules at the Elmira WWTP will be slid into a receiving steel framework over a few days and connected to small process blowers.
OxyMem™ MABR modules contain membranes that carry a flow of air (source of oxygen) at low pressure. This oxygen diffuses across the gas permeable membrane wall, on a molecular level, and is readily utilized by an attached biofilm to reduce ammonia. This latest means of treating wastewater biologically consumes only a small fraction of the energy required by alternate attached-growth systems often considered for plant upgrades, while simultaneously providing effective year-round performance and lower process emissions.
The Region of Waterloo in southwestern Ontario, Canada, has a population in excess of 630,000 people and is one of the fastest-growing areas in the province. The Region has been a leading advocate for MABR in Canada, first trialling the technology at Elmira in 2018 in collaboration with Aquafy and OxyMem™; this clearly illustrated potential benefits of the technology, with performance results indicating a drop-in MABR solution could help reduce pollutants year-round. The system being deployed at the Elmira WWTP has been designed to target ammonia reduction.
DuPont™ OxyMem™ MABR modules waiting to be dropped into existing tanks at the Elmira WWTP to enhance capacity
DuPont’s water technologies help purify more than 50 million gallons of water every minute around the world, enable water reuse and recycling, desalination, and the safe access of both ground and surface water. DuPont offers solutions to a variety of water and sustainability challenges through a broad portfolio of water purification and separation technologies including reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, ion exchange resins (IEX), ultrafiltration (UF), electrodeionization (EDI), nanofiltration (NF), membrane bioreactor systems (MBR), membrane aerated biofilm reactors (MABR), and closed-circuit reverse osmosis (CCRO) systems.
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