Project Details

Project Delivery

Project Results

Discussion

Situation

A water treatment system plays an important role especially in worker camps. These camps are often set up in a short period of time and house many people over a certain period. A waste water treatment system that treats black or grey water is particularly important. This is produced when showering, washing hands, flushing the toilet or in the kitchen. Depending on the activity of the workers, different substances mix into the wastewater. These can be, for example, fats and oils that come from the actual work. Biological wastewater treatment is particularly suitable there.

Especially in the oil and gas industry, worker camps are not uncommon. They arise quickly, which is why a waste water treatment system must also be available promptly. In Algeria, a customer built a worker camp for the oil and gas industry, which generates 150 cubic metres of wastewater per day. This contains a high dirt load and thus a high biological oxygen demand. In the worker camps, not only biological wastewater treatment is important, but it should also be possible to reuse the water after purification with this water treatment system to counteract the drought in the country.

Problem

Worker camps are always created on site, in this case in the Algerian desert. Therefore, the water treatment system must also be flexible and easy to install. Large, on-site preparations are usually not possible. In addition, biological wastewater treatment plays a major role, as it works self-sufficiently, and no regular addition of chemicals is necessary. However, a reduction in the volume of sludge produced is necessary to transport it away more easily and less frequently.

Solution

The customer opted for a ClearFox® fixed bed biological reactor in containerised design with a sludge dewatering unit and upstream equalisation basins made of concrete. The equalisation basins collect the produced wastewater for the water treatment system and continuously pass it on to the biological treatment stage. The ClearFox® fixed bed biological reactor consists of a growth material for microorganisms. These metabolise the dissolved solids in the wastewater and convert them into secondary sludge, which settles at the bottom of the reactor. The sludge dewatering unit reduces the volume of sludge to a minimum.

For this project, the ClearFox® team took over the complete planning of the project, the fabrication of the containerised waste water treatment plant, the installation, and the training of the staff on site. Because the entire water treatment system is installed in a 20-foot HC ISO Sea container, it was easy to transport by sea and land and can be moved to another location if needed. The workers use the wastewater to irrigate the local green spaces, thus complying with the instructions of the authorities.