● “Generation of Power by Recycling Water Discharged into Sea”
SK Chemical Completes Construction of Korea’s Largest Recycled Water Treatment Plant
- 1.46 million tons/year recycled water system developed at SK’s Ulsan plant
- Recycling of water discharged into sea – ‘Cost saving’ and ‘eco-friendliness’ at the
same time
An eco-friendly production facility for recycling waste water has been introduced at a chemical plant in Korea.
SK Chemical disclosed on March 27 that it had completed the development of a ‘recycled water treatment system’ to reuse wastewater and begun its full operation.
The recycled water treatment system is an eco-friendly process for treating and reusing waste water that is generated during the production process and discharged into the ocean. SK Chemical invested a total of 6 billion won over two years since 2012 to install the facility at its Ulsan Plant.
The recycling plant is capable of filtering 4,000 tons of water per day, or around 1.46 million ton per year, and resupplying it to the production facility. It has the largest capacity of any such unit in Korea.
The amount is equivalent to 62% of the net production SK Chemical used in the past, or the amount of utility water sufficient to meet the daily needs of 4,000 families of four for one year.When the facility is in full operation, the wastewater generated by the production process is recycled into high purity industrial water by passing it through an impurity removal process and a cutting-edge filtering system. The recycled industrial water is pure enough to be used as feed water for boilers and as such will be supplied to the eco-green boiler, which uses waste wood to produce high-pressure steam, which is the key energy source for operation of the plant.
SK Chemical expects that the system will save up to 1 billion won per year once it is in full-blown operation.
It is also significant in that it offers the industry a means of saving water resources in this era of global water scarcity.
“The recycled water treatment system is very significant in that it provides both the environmental benefit of waste water reduction and the commercial benefit of cost saving,” an SK Chemical official explained.
SK Chemical plans to develop more eco-friendly production processes based on various eco-friendly facilities in addition to the recycled water treatment system.
“We will do more to minimize the emission of carbon and other environmental pollutants at the plant by expanding the use of eco-friendly energy technology, such as the eco-green boiler, an energy source that uses waste wood and biogas generated during the waste water treatment process,” said a company official.
Based on its corporate philosophy of “Protection of the Environment and Improvement of Human Health”, SK Chemical has created the “Green Triple 40” program with the eco-friendly goals of 40 hours of social voluntary work, reducing CO₂emissions by 40%, and 40% of total sales from the eco-friendly products, and is carrying out various eco-friendly activities.
[Picture 1]
SK Chemical has developed the recycled water treatment system, which recycles wastewater into industrial water. Company officials including Hwang Chunhyun (6th from the left), SK Chemical’s Ulsan Plant Manager cuts the tape at the ceremony.
[Picture 2]
SK Chemical has developed the recycled water treatment system, which recycles wastewater into industrial water. An employee of SK Chemical’s Ulsan plant checks the steam system operated by recycled water.