Kuraray Europe GmbH Sustainability Blog Saving water: Kuraray Europe’s Troisdorf site shows how to do it

Saving water: Kuraray Europe’s Troisdorf site shows how to do it

Water plays a key role in industrial production as process and cooling water. At the same time, water is a resource that is vital for survival. Therefore, more and more companies are focusing on saving water by repeatedly re-using it or treating it internally. That includes our AIS division, which produces interlayers for laminated safety glass at our site in Troisdorf, near Bonn in Germany. The Troisdorf site has been so successful that it has saved more than 700,000 cubic metres of fresh water since 2015.

How has it done that? We asked Udo Laßmann, chemical technology specialist and process engineer at Kuraray Europe GmbH’s site in Troisdorf. The topic is clearly close to his heart. The site didn’t start from scratch: AIS has been recycling water for a long time. Since 2015, an interdepartmental team has also been looking into how water consumption could be reduced dramatically. The first step was to record all points of water consumption and cut out unnecessary usage. In parallel, work started on optimizing water treatment and process water circuits at the Troisdorf facilities. The ideas and enormous detailed knowledge of Frank Güldenberg and Erik Schöning from Maintenance made a key contribution to this.

Saving water: Kuraray Europe’s Troisdorf site shows how to do it
Water treatment installation in Troisdorf

“Slime-forming bacteria are the worst enemy”

What was the biggest challenge for the team? Almost all systems that use water contain microorganisms, explains Laßmann. These microorganisms particularly like process temperatures of around 40 °C, which are found at many points in the production facilities in Troisdorf, where they can reproduce rapidly. That causes technical problems, resulting in corrosion, disruption of operations or even production shutdowns. Moreover, water consumption increases because the contaminated water has to be replaced if it cannot be treated. Bacteria that form a protective slime layer around themselves are the biggest problem. As well as contaminating water tanks, the tough layer clogs up pipes and heat exchangers. “Slime-forming bacteria are our worst enemy,” says Laßmann.

So how can these minute trouble-makers be controlled? Following intensive research and testing, a system was established to make life as difficult for them as possible. It involves a combination of disinfection, UV lamps at high-exposure points such as storage tanks, short pipelines with higher flow rates where viable and as little “dead space” as possible. In this way, similarly high levels of purity as in the pharmaceutical industry can be achieved. In addition, the Troisdorf site has invested in a range of measures designed to enhance control of water circuits and further optimize the facilities. These include constructional and practical adjustments, improved analysis, the installation of additional dosing and measuring points and systematic staff training.

A great job, great teamwork

According to Stephan Lomnitz, Head of the PVB Competence Center Technology Film in Troisdorf, the hard work has paid off. He illustrates it with a striking example: Water consumption has been reduced significantly. Over the past years, the water saved would have been enough to fill about 300 Olympic-size swimming pools with a volume of 2,500 cubic metres each. The picture is similar for cleaning and maintenance. In the past, for example, heat exchangers had to be removed and sent away for a prolonged period for cleaning. Now the work can be performed by the company itself on site within three hours – even though output has increased substantially in the meantime.

“That is a masterwork and great teamwork by all the colleagues at Maintenance and Process Engineering who were involved,” says Lomnitz. He also points to other, no less important, effects of this successful project: the excellent collaboration has brought the departments closer together. In addition, employees are now more aware of their responsibility for sustainable working practices and get involved.

Advanced Interlayer Solutions Division

Trosifol and SentryGlas: functional, safe and sustainable

Kuraray’s Advanced Interlayer Solutions (AIS) division manufactures and markets interlayers for laminated safety glass. Trosifol® PVB and SentryGlas® ionoplast interlayers enable AIS customers in the architecture, automotive and transport sectors to implement unique glazing projects. As well as functional aspects, they also have an eye for sustainability and aesthetics. As a market leader, AIS has production and research facilities and sales offices around the world.

Advanced Interlayer Solutions Division