Keppelite news

With its continuous foray into new frontiers, Keppel Seghers plants its technological footprint in a new market.

Keppel Seghers, the environmental technology division of Keppel Integrated Engineering (KIE), has secured its first contract in Australia to provide its technology and services to the Plenary Environment consortium.

Plenary Environment is constructing a thermal drying biosolids facility for Barwon Water, one of the largest water corporations in the state of Victoria in Australia.

The AU$76 million (€47 million) new thermal drying facility will process the region’s 54,000 tonnes of biosolids produced each year, providing a sustainable biosolids management solution for Barwon Water.

The biosolids will be processed to “T1” grade to maximise the potential for sustainable beneficial use, as a fossil fuel replacement or fertiliser.

Keppel Seghers will provide a two-line thermal drying/pelletising installation to the plant. Each line consists of a coater, a hardpelletizer, a pellets recirculation system, and a pellets cooling unit.

The thermal drying facility being delivered by the Plenary Environment consortium is to be located next to Barwon Water’s Black Rock water reclamation plant and will be completed in 2009.

It is planned that the biosolids will be used as fertiliser or as green fuel (fossil fuel replacement).

Mr Chua Chee Wui, CEO of KIE, said, “Sustainable biosolids treatment solutions are receiving increasing attention worldwide due to declining availability of traditional treatment methods, as well as better technology to safely harness the nutrient and energy value of biosolids.

“Keppel Seghers’ thermal treatment technologies have been successfully applied in Europe and North America. We are proud that our proven treatment technology will now be applied towards the sustainable management of biosolids in the state of Victoria.”

Keppel Seghers’ drying/pelletising technology is based on the PEARL PROCESS which creates dry pellets from biosolids that are pathogen-free, easily handled, shipped and can be stored for longer periods.

Plenary Environment carried out tests on a Keppel Seghers pilot thermal drying plant for a six-week period that yielded very positive results, giving the consortium strong evidence of the performance reliability of the technology.

Through its wholly-owned subsidiary Keppel Prince Engineering, KIE has been operating in the state of Victoria for over 30 years.