Bolivia’s new biodiesel plant will be equipped with a Salher effluent treatment station

Bolivia is the most vulnerable country to climate change in South America and the one most likely to be affected by the lack of water in the entire continent, according to the index of the US University of Notre Dame. Melting glaciers, droughts, heavy hailstorms, floods, forest fires, food and water insecurity and other phenomena that affect the most impoverished population in particular.

Biodiesel is a renewable alternative fuel of natural origin, generated from new or reused vegetable oils and animal fats. The new biofuel production plant in La Paz, the second in Bolivia, will contribute to the increased use of more environmentally friendly fuels to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the country and minimise its energy dependence.

In addition, as part of this commitment to caring for nature and the country’s resources, the construction of this biodiesel plant also involves the installation of a Salher industrial water treatment plant. The wastewater to be treated will be mainly effluents generated during the biodiesel production process and rainwater.

For this purpose, Salher has designed a modern and compact water treatment plant, which includes a cutting edge dissolved air flotation unit, Vespa, prior to the wastewater treatment system. This is designed in two stages: a first stage of biological treatment using moving bed reactors (MBBR) and a second stage using submerged membrane reactors (MBR).

The system will incorporate a Salher lamellar settler and the entire plant will be automated by means of an electrical panel with PLC and SCADA system, which will be commissioned in the coming months.

This project is Salher’s latest reference in water treatment solutions for the energy industry. Here you can consult others.