CUT Membrane Technology, a subsidiary of the Bürkert Group, produce membranes and modules for separating liquid media in the chemical, food and environmental technology industries, especially with regard to the treatment of process and wastewater.
A challenge to treat
Landfill leachate water is rainwater that has drained through a landfill and is one of the most difficult types of waste water to treat. A variety of chemical compounds are dissolved in the water when the landfill bodies enter the water and the water is also swollen with all types of particles. The amount and composition of the leachate water from every landfill is different. This also depends on climatic conditions such as the amount of rainwater and the degree of evaporation possible as well as being subject to seasonal fluctuations in addition to the composition of the waste. Leachate water always has high organic contamination as well as a high toxic load of salt and heavy metals to reckon with, which is a challenge for any membrane plant.
A robust module
Since the start of 2015, CUT has had a CUT tubular module in its product portfolio that has been specially developed for the treatment of landfill leachate water. Since June 2015 the company says its T-CUT tubular module has been running with great success at two landfill leachate water treatment plants in Portugal. Each of the installed T-CUT tubular modules handles approx. 12 m³/h of raw water and this generates around 3 m³/h of dischargeable permeate. The peak flux is 120 l/(m²·h) with a particle content of approx. 3.0 g/l. The new T-CUT tubular modules with membranes made from PVDF and PES means that CUT’s family of products has been expanded by another robust tubular module. CUT says the special stability of the membranes together with the possibility of chemical cleaning means that the T-CUT tubular modules can be used in challenging applications, e.g. for the preparation of chemical stripping baths used in the metal processing industry for separating oil/water and biomass/water.
CUT’s T-CUT tubular modules can be seen at IFAT in Munich, 30 May – 3 June 2016, Hall A2 / Stand 519.