Metito completes Thai water treatment plant

Metito has completed installation of a multi-million dollar water and wastewater treatment works for Thailand's National Fertiliser Public Co. "This was one of our most challenging international projects, but one that has been successfully implemented to meet the most stringent environmental regulations," Managing Director Fady Juez said.

"The high toxicity of the waste we were dealing with meant that all equipment had to be specially designed and coated to ensure that it would not be corroded or affected by the chemicals." Work on the site was managed locally from Metito's regional office in Jakarta under the supervision of its regional headquarters in Sharjah for Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The scope of the project included the complete design of the plant, engineering, manufacture, inspection, testing and supply on an FOB basis, supervision of installation and commissioning, start-up, performance tests and specialised training of personnel. Metito was appointed to design and build four systems - a wastewater treatment plant, water treatment plant, a sewage treatment system for the site and a specialised demineralisation plant to provide purified water for industrial processes.

The project involved developing a plant that could handle wastewater created at the fertiliser plant that contained a phosphoric acid manufacturing unit. Wastewater from the unit contains an abnormally high content of highly toxic pollutants including phosphoric acid and fluorides coupled with sulphates.

After taking into account operating costs and other considerations, lime was chosen as the main chemical to be used in the treatment process for the toxic wastewater. To supply the amount of lime required, two storage silos over 100 feet high were constructed, each having a storage volume of 800 cubic metres.

All the containers and basins and equipment used to handle the wastewater containing phosphoric acid were protected with special coatings and all the internal mechanisms involved in this highly complex process are made of rubber-coated steel to prevent corrosion. The total package installed at the fertiliser plant included a process wastewater system, water pre-treatment system, ion exchange demineralisation plant, ion exchange plant chemical waste collection and treatment system and a sanitary draining and treatment system.

Metito implemented the project working through Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co Ltd.