GE Power is supplying water recycling technology to the Co-op Refinery Complex in Regina, Saskatchewan province, Canada, after new rules mandated that the refinery find a new water source.
The facility expanded from 100,000 to 130,000 barrels of oil per day three years ago, resulting in its existing sources of well water and city water not stretching far enough.
The solution provided by GE combines its ZeeWeed membrane bioreactor system, and its high-efficiency reverse osmosis system, HERO, to reuse two million gallons of wastewater a day. It is expected to become fully operational by end of October.
Regina’s Co-op Refinery Complex will be the first petroleum refinery in North America to recycle 100 per cent of its wastewater, producing steam for heating, hydrogen production, and to power equipment and cooling towers.
The new system will reduce the refinery’s use of freshwater by 28 per cent, which GE calculates is equivalent to the amount used by 3,100 Regina households, each year.
GE is also providing specialty chemicals and monitoring solutions to enable system optimisation.