VSA maintains DO levels, reduces operating costs at paper mill

摘要

The DOCS~® VSA (Vacuum Swing Adsorption) Oxygen Generation System provides a reliable, fully automated means of continuous on-site oxygen supply, according to the US manufacturer PCI Gases, that has proven to be an economical means of supplying oxygen for use in both industrial and municipal water and wastewater treatment applications. The company is based in Riverside, California, USA. In 2012 the DOCS VSA system helped a paper mill located in the US state of Maine meet dissolved oxygen (DO) requirements and reduce operating costs. The paper mill was using liquid oxygen to supplement surface aerators in its wastewater treatment process. Oxygen supplementation is needed to maintain DO levels within the mill's biological basin to insure that the effluent discharge standards are met. It is a proven technique employed by many wastewater plant operators to increase their bioreactor aeration capacity and allow for increased treatment capacity as well as for meeting effluent discharge standards. However, the mill's existing oxygen aeration system was only marginally successful in maintaining DO levels, and was costly to operate because of the high unit price for liquid oxygen and inefficiency of the oxygen dissolution system, which was causing the mill to use much more oxygen than required by the process.