Page 189 - CW E-Magazine (2-1-2024)

Special Report

Industrial water management: Paving the way for new

processes, sustainable production and site security

ater is key for the process international hydrogen projects, as well
industry: whether as a coolant as many reference projects in Germany DR. CHRISTINA JUNGFER
Wor solvent, as a reagent or pro- such as Aquaventus, H2Giga, H2Mare Senior Expert Water Reuse
duct component. Chemical and pharma- or Kopernikus emphasise this develop-
ceutical production is constantly ment. While industry uses hydrogen as ANDRES LUCHT URIBE
evolving – hydrogen, digitalisation, an energy storage medium or for high- Senior Expert Digital and Hydrogen
recycling, new production processes. temperature processes, R&D projects
What does this mean for industrial are focussing on hydrogen infrastruc- DR. THOMAS TRACK
water management? ture, mass production of electrolysis Head of Subdivision Water Manage-
technologies and the synthesis of basic
Carbon dioxide (CO ) neutra- chemicals based on hydrogen. ment
2
lity, hydrogen production, power-to-X DECHEMA e.V.
processes, circular economy and zero Commercially available electroly-
pollution are currently at the top of the sers require around 10-kg to 17-kg of sion of hydrogen into basic chemicals
process industry’s agenda. Water is an deionised water to produce 1-kg of green and chemical energy storage, such as
irreplaceable resource, especially for hydrogen. Green or sustainable energy, ammonia, methane or eKerosene. The
chemical and pharmaceutical produc- the basis for green hydrogen, can be thermal energy released in this produc-
tion. If industrial water management produced particularly economically in tion step can be made available to other
can be successfully integrated into pro- sunny or windy regions. However, the processes. Thermal desalination tech-
duction and site management, process regions with the highest potential for nologies with higher effi ciency, as well
effi ciency can be increased, circular renewable energies are usually also the as biological wastewater treatment, can
solutions become possible and the regions where there is a high level of thus benefi t from the available thermal
transformation towards a sustainable water stress and therefore a water risk. energy and move further into focus.
process industry progresses. In addi- Once the local resources have been This development is not only relevant
tion, close integration of production and used up, this has an irreversible im- for the hydrogen economy; new mem-
industrial water management strengthens pact on the region. Alternative water brane separation processes or exten-
the competitiveness of companies and resources for hydrogen production are sions to biological water treatment can
sites, reduces the risk of production therefore becoming increasingly impor- also have a positive impact on indus-
downtime and increases investment tant. Examples include desalinated trial water management in terms of pro-
security in corporate development. The water and water reuse. A growing number cess and energy effi ciency.
increasing water stress at many process of seawater desalination plants leads to
industry sites means business success new challenges in terms of wastewater “Water is the key to realising large-
is increasingly dependent on effi cient discharge (emissions into the sea) and scale plants for the production of green
industrial water management. opens up opportunities for the utilisa- hydrogen and its downstream products
tion of brines and concentrates, for such as methanol or ammonia. That’s
Water as the key to hydrogen example. The production of green why we need to think about integrated
production hydrogen will increase in the future. As a water management together with strate-
The utilisation of renewable ener- result, water will have to be utilised and gies for renewable energies and hydro-
gies and their storage in the form of reused more effi ciently in the produc- gen production right from the start.
hydrogen or derived products is one tion process, especially cooling water This is the basis for a successful green
of the most important prerequisites and wastewater streams. This is where hydrogen economy. Plant engineering
for a climate-neutral process indus- optimised, integrated water manage- and process technology, as we will see
try. A growing number of initiatives ment comes into play. at ACHEMA 2024, will make a decisive
in various sectors are accelerating the contribution to this,” says Dr. Thomas
expansion of capacities to produce More and more new hydrogen pro- Track, Head of the Water Management
and utilise hydrogen: More than 1,400 jects are focussing on a direct conver- Subdivision at DECHEMA e.V.

Chemical Weekly January 2, 2024 189

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