Project Details
| Size | 400 m³/day |
| Location | Iraq |
| Completed | 2024 |
Project Delivery
| Features | Containerised wastewater treatment plant for easy transport to Iraq |
| Plug & Play for simple commissioning | |
| Treated wastewater is suitable for irrigation | |
| Treatment Modules | ClearFox® FBBR |
| ClearFox® Clarifier | |
| Buffer tank | |
| Sludge storage tank |
Project Results
| Before | After | |
| COD | 600 mg/l | <150 mg/l |
| BOD | 300 mg/l | <75 mg/l |
Discussion
Situation
Iraq is one of the world’s leading oil exporters. This is why new drilling fields are constantly being built to extract the oil. Camps are built around the drilling fields, where the workers and often their families live. As a result, a lot of wastewater is produced there from showers, cooking and washing.
The oil drilling field is located in the south-east of the country, close to the border with Iran. There is a severe water shortage there. Water is extracted there at great expense, sometimes using long pipelines to bring it to the site. The customer therefore approached us with the request to treat the wastewater produced for reuse and recycling.
Problem
Iraq has been battling the constant pollution of ground and surface water for years. Many oil and gas drilling projects are exacerbating the situation and making water an even more valuable resource. Therefore, all oil drilling fields are required to operate treatment plants for their wastewater.
Another challenge was the remote location of the oil drilling field. The customer therefore wanted a mobile wastewater treatment plant that would minimise installation work. The customer also wanted little or no construction work on site.
Solution
The ideal solution for this project was a ClearFox® containerised wastewater treatment plant with FBBR technology. The entire process is installed in ISO sea containers, which can be easily transported both by sea and by land.
The entire process is installed in the containers. The entire system is installed in a 20-foot and a 40-foot sea container. The 40-foot container consists of four chambers, one of which serves as a buffer tank, while the fixed-bed process is installed in the other three chambers. The 20-foot container contains a lamella clarifier and the control technology.
The fixed-bed process consists of a growth material on which microorganisms can grow. The growth area increases from chamber to chamber. In the first chamber, the growth area is 100 m²/m³, in the second 150 m²/m³ and in the third 200 m²/m³. The biological degradation capacity therefore also increases from chamber to chamber.
The biological fixed-bed process produces secondary sludge. Spent microorganisms detach themselves from the fixed bed material and sink to the bottom of the system. The ClearFox® lamella clarifier is suitable for separating this sludge from clear water. Using a physical sedimentation process, the sludge sinks to the bottom, while the clear water is discharged via an overflow weir in the upper part of the system.
Thanks to the modular container system, the customer only had to connect the modules to the pipe system on site and supply them with electricity. The treated wastewater is reused for irrigation on site, thereby protecting the groundwater in the long term.
