Teijin to Collaborate with Yixing, China in Wastewater Treatment  

Teijin Limited announce that it has signed a business collaboration agreement with Yixing City Water Works & Construction Investment Co., Ltd., which manages water supply and sewage systems for the city of Yixing, Jiangsu Province, to co-develop wastewater treatment systems for rural communities.

The agreement was formed in cooperation with Membrane-Tec Co., Ltd., a Japanese manufacturer of membrane filtration units for water treatment. The three parties were brought together through an environmental business support program organized by the city of Osaka to promote collaborative efforts between Japan and Jiangsu Province. The agreement marks the first time that private companies from Japan and China will collaborate to improve wastewater treatment in rural communities.

A small pilot system will be tested in the village of Dagang this June, aiming at full-scale operation sometime during fiscal 2010 (ends March 31, 2011). The system incorporates Teijin’s Multi-stage Activated Biological Process (MSABP(tm)) wastewater treatment technology and Membrane-Tec’s membrane filtration technology. The city of Yixing began installing drainage pipes from homes last December and plans to complete this preparatory step by late May. Teijin and Membrane-Tec have finished the detailed design of the pilot system.

Yixing is located on Taihu Lake, one of China’s largest lakes and an important source of water for surrounding cities. Due to rapid economic growth, however, the river basin fed by the lake has become polluted, particularly by influent of untreated drainage from nearby communities. Under a national policy to upgrade rural environments, Yixing plans to address the problem by constructing drainage system under the management of Yixing City Water Works & Construction Investment .

As part of its Green Chemistry businesses for the creation of environmentally friendly technologies, Teijin is developing solutions for wastewater treatment and recycling. Pilot plant studies are underway including testing the innovative, highly efficient MSABP technology in locations around the world.

The MSABP system uses biological carriers with high concentrations of microorganisms in multi-stage aeration tanks. Organic excess sludge is eliminated as part of a biological food chain created with the system, and operational control is simple. The result is a sludge-free, low-maintenance, energy-saving and low-cost solution. Moreover, the system helps to reduce CO2 emissions that otherwise would have been generated by transporting and incinerating the sludge.

Going forward, Teijin will continue to develop unique, comprehensive wastewater treatment solutions based on not only MSABP but also composite electrocatalytic (ELCAT) and advanced oxidation water treatment (HiPOx) technologies, aiming to promote increased wastewater reuse, energy conservation and CO2 emission reduction worldwide.