Latest News - Decal Project

Decal has as its core business the management of coastal terminals for oil, gas and chemical products, with various installations around the world. Last year, Decal began the enlargement of its plant in Palos de la Frontera (Huelva, Spain). The aim was to install 24 new tanks to store vegetable oils which will be used in biofuel production. In this way, the storage capacity of the plant will be increased by 180.000 cubic metres. As a result, a new WWTP was needed to treat the wastewater generated in the new facilities. The wastewater comes mainly from rainwater which drags oil, rests on the surface and is collected to be treated. Another source is occasional purges of stored oils.

In June 2008, Wehrle received the order for the construction of the new treatment plant at Decal in Huelva. The design of the plant includes a dissolved air flotation (DAF) unit and an ultrafiltration (UF) process, supplied in a container. In the DAF process, suspended solids, and non-emulsified oils and greases are removed by flotation.  The addition of chemical coagulants will enhance the coalescence and separation of emulsified oil droplets. Residual oil droplets will be removed in the UF unit, since drops of oil are retained by the membrane and are concentrated in the volume being processed, while the water, free of oil and grease, can pass through the membrane and removed from the system.

This method of operation allows highly flexible and economic handling of the effluent that arises in an extremely fluctuating manner and reduces the residues (i.e. flotation tailings and concentrates) to a minimum. The reduced footprint of the Wehrle plant was another argument in favour of its choice. The commissioning of the Wehrle plant is expected to start in January 2009.

Author: Dr.Ángel Cambiella

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