Arnhem, The natural
gas consumption in winter is 5 times higher than in summer. In order to meet this peak demand, Gaz de
France stores part of
the imported
gas underground during the summer period. I winter time, the gas will be reclaimed and must be dried before use. The formed
process
water contains
organic compounds such as
benzene and TetraHydro Thiophene; THT gives the gas the typical odour. This water
cannot be released to the
environment and up till now thousands of tons have been incinerated.
As part of their environmental and sustainable development policy, Gaz de France evaluated the available technologies to treat the process
water. They have choosen the
Akzo Nobel MPPE (Macro Porous Polymer Extraction) technology for the Germigny-sous-Coulombs site.
Gaz de France has made an agreement with Akzo Nobel MPP Systems® to deliver a turnkey MPPE unit with a performance and service
guarantee for the total operational lifetime of the unit. The start up of the MPPE-unit was in October 2001. Akzo Nobel MPP Systems units
are in operation in
Germany, the
Netherlands and the USA, both on and offshore.
MPP Systems® is a new business activity of Akzo Nobel´s business unit
Eka Chemicals that develops, markets and
services separation
technologies of organic compounds in all types of water streams. The MPPE system is a patented technology using a Macro Porous Polymer
filled with an
extraction liquid to efficiently remove aliphatic, aromatic, polyaromatic and chlorinated
hydrocarbons from waste water, process
water and ground water.