WATER TREATMENT
Figure 1 – Biomass-balanced polymers
Adopting the biomass balance approach is a concrete action toward achieving long-term sustainability goals for water-intensive industries . Reducing reliance on fossil-based resources is a long journey , but this is a step in the right direction – replacing fossil carbon , molecule by molecule .
Finding renewable replacements for traditional fossil-based PAMs that offer high performance , costefficiency and just the right properties for technically demanding customer in water treatment is not easy . Here lies the beauty of the biomass balance principle : the biomass-balanced polymers are chemically identical to standard products .
This is because renewable feedstocks , such as bionaphtha from industrial side streams or agricultural waste , are used to substitute traditional fossil materials at the very beginning of the production value chain . These raw materials serve as the foundation for producing components that are needed in polymer manufacturing . Kemira , in turn , sources these intermediates to manufacture the final polymer products .
The biomass-balanced polymers provide the exact same high performance required and expected . No process workflow or equipment changes are necessary when introducing them . Laboratory and pilot trials , as well as requalification , can be skipped .
Moreover , the biomass balance approach enables the efficient use of current production infrastructure along the value chain , facilitating the scaling up of renewable feedstock utilisation quickly and cost-efficiently , without large investments . These polymers are thus a true drop-in solution , enabling users to avoid spending time and resources on technical requalification of chemistries , changing their processes , or any need to worry about process performance .
Revolutionising the industry
Replacing fossil-based chemicals with more sustainable alternatives is one way to do this and has been part of Kemira ’ s approach for years . For example , in one of the company ’ s core product lines for water treatment , inorganic coagulants , the majority of the raw materials come from recycled sources or industrial by-products .
In 2021 , Kemira began full-scale production of a newly developed water-soluble polymer offering – the Superfloc * BioMB ( biomass-balanced ) portfolio . The product is made using renewable feedstock instead of fossil raw materials . The first batches were delivered to Helsinki Regional Environmental Services .
Kemira ’ s portfolio of biomassbalanced polymers now includes
around 100 different products covering all the core applications – including industrial and municipal wastewater treatment , sludge treatment , and drinking water treatment . The portfolio includes dry and emulsion PAMs .
The feedstocks used to produce them are all certified by International Sustainability & Carbon Certification . This means there is a fully traceable chain of custody , so customers can document and prove their own sustainability performance .
Kemira ’ s biomass-balanced polymers have been adopted by a number of high-profile municipalities and waterintensive industrial companies . These include Aigües de Barcelona in Spain , the city of Heidenheim in Germany , Anglian Water in the UK and Aalborg Kommune in Denmark .
In 2023 alone , Kemira supplied enough biomass-balanced polymers to treat wastewater and sludge coming from a population equivalent of 1.5 million people . This figure is expected to rise to reach four million by the end of 2024 . ●
* - Superfloc is a trademark of Kemira
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Jean-Christophe Ades
SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER , MUNICIPAL , I & W , EMEA
KEMIRA jean-christophe . ades @ kemira . com www . kemira . com
NOV / DEC 2024 SPECCHEMONLINE . COM
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